At a special meeting held on January 12, the Hamilton City Council decided to submit an offer to purchase a 4.78-acre parcel of land located at 220 Foxfield Street, just off Highway 93 behind Higher Ground Brewing. Mayor Dominic Farrenkopf immediately told the council members to forget about the buy/sell agreement that he had presented […]
Scientists at Rocky Mountain Labs honored for Coronavirus research
A couple of local scientists at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Dr. Emmie de Wit and Dr. Vincent Munster, along with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) colleagues in Bethesda, Maryland, Dr. Barney Graham and Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, and Jason McLellan, a structural virologist at the University of Texas, were all recently honored with the […]
Governor asked to open gate on Hughes Creek Road
The Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association and Public Land/Water Access Association have asked Governor Greg Gianforte and state Attorney General Austin Knudson to step in and open the gate on Hughes Creek Road that is currently blocking access to public lands despite a Supreme Court decision that authorizes its opening. The groups claim that […]
Hoffman honored for decades of public service
Former County Commissioner and former Sheriff Chris Hoffman was honored last week for his 18 years of leadership and dedicated public service. In that leadership role he served as Ravalli County’s Sheriff from 2003 until 2016 when he chose to drop those reins and run for the position of Ravalli County Commissioner for District #2. […]
Elected officials sworn in
Newly elected Ravalli County Commissioner Dan Huls and newly re-elected Clerk Of District Court Paige Trautwein both took the oath of office last week at the county administration building in Hamilton. Both candidates ran unopposed and garnered 97.31% and 97.59% of the vote, respectively. Huls is coming into the position from a life-long career […]
Regents recommend approval of Bitterroot Valley College District, say they can’t afford it
Just two weeks ago the Montana Board of Regents passed along a proposal to create a Bitterroot Valley College District to the Montana State Legislature, basically saying they could not, themselves, afford it, but they thought it was a good idea. They asked the legislature – the sole authority in establishing such a district – […]
Old Fort gets a new roof
Those of you who drive from Highway 93 into Stevensville regularly may have noticed, if you glanced north towards Fort Owen State Park, that the old fort suddenly got a new roof. It was sudden if you count the time from start to finish on the roof which is all that you could see from […]
New vaccine manufacturing plant planned for Hamilton
According to information released simultaneously by both the seller and the buyer’s representatives, Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding Corporation, a New Jersey based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing company, has purchased 44 acres north of Hamilton within the newly established Targeted Economic Development District (TEDD) with the intent of establishing a vaccine production facility. The property, purchased […]
Dr. Marshall Bloom named to Montana BioScience Alliance Hall of Fame
Dr. Marshall Bloom, Associate Director for Science Management at Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) and Chief of the Biology of Vector-Borne Viruses Section was recently named the 2020 inductee into the Montana BioScience Hall of Fame. Montanan’s have played a major role in the development of the biological sciences by making very significant contributions to the […]
Still writing, after all these years
Since we announced the sale of the Bitterroot Star last week I have been in a kind of shock. Not at the sale and my sudden change in life, but at the response. You would think I died. It was the kind of praise and appreciation I’ve only heard at funerals. Kind of scary. The […]
Glaciers in the Bitterroot at Ravalli County Museum
A new exhibit, “Ice Ace Floods – Glacial Lake Missoula,” will be opening soon at the Ravalli County Museum, focused on the impacts of glaciers and of Glacial Lake Missoula on the Bitterroot valley. Museum Director Tamar Stanley said that glaciers and the flooding events centered around Glacial Lake Missoula have made the area an […]
Health officials urge people to consider flu vaccination
While COVID-19 statistics dominate the headlines, public health officials are urging people not to ignore the coming flu season and to consider getting a seasonal flu vaccination shot. Although the COVID-19 virus is considered by many to be about like getting a bad cold or the flu, in fact they are very different viruses. One […]