Michael Howell

At the last Stevensville School District Board meeting, Superintendent Bob Moore was presented the Montana State Literacy Administrator Award. Ann Ellsworth, who serves on the Executive Board of the Montana State Literacy Association, said she was honored to present the award. School district administrator Tracy Rogstad wrote the letter of nomination for Moore. Ellsworth said […]

At the August 8 Stevensville Town Council meeting, Council member Robin Holcomb took her last stab at making a motion, seconding it, and then approving it all by herself, as she appointed three new council members that evening. “I move to move the agenda item of appointing the new council members to be the next […]

Members of the Hamilton City Council met as a Committee of the Whole in July to consider the city’s ordinance concerning off-street parking space requirements; review the Aggressive Dog Ordinance; and discuss the status of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries. The discussion about off-street parking requirements was primarily focused on churches and included a proposal to change […]

Daisy bouquets bloomed in abundance at Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital last week as hospital staff, administration and patients celebrated the 2019 Daisy Awards. The Daisy Award program is a worldwide initiative that rewards remarkable care, clinical skills and extraordinary compassion in nursing. The DAISY Foundation was established in 1999 by members of the family of […]

When the Ravalli County Commissioners approved the Watson Homes subdivision, a five-lot minor subdivision north of Stevensville, their answer to local and adjacent property owners who claimed they would be setting a bad precedent in the neighborhood of the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge if they approved it, was sort of a ‘we told you […]

Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Jered Guisinger recently received the Montana American Legion Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award. The commendation was presented at the American Legion State Conference held in Polson. “I could not be prouder of Jered, and no one deserves the award more than he does,” said Ravalli County Sheriff Steve […]

At a regularly scheduled Stevensville Town Council meeting on July 25, the lone remaining council member Robin Holcomb made a motion to the effect that she would accept applications for council seats, two in Ward 2 and one in Ward 1, through August 2, hold interviews on August 5, and make the three appointments on […]

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has initiated the implementation of a 20-yearlong water quality monitoring project on the mainstem of the Bitterroot River. The agency is taking samples for nutrient testing from five sites on the river’s mainstem including sites at the USGS gauge south of Darby and at the bridges at Main […]

Following a newly adopted strategic plan, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality  (DEQ) Water Quality Division is focusing a large portion of its non-point source pollution program funding into the Bitterroot River watershed over the next three years. This year, the Clean Water Action Section 319 Grant Program is distributing nearly $300,000 to the Bitterroot […]

Bitterrooters got a chance to hear about how valuable wilderness areas are from one of their most ardent advocates last week when George Wuerthner gave a talk at the Bedford building in Hamilton at the invitation of Friends of the Bitterroot and other sponsors. Wuerthner is a professional photographer, writer and ecologist. He has written […]

At its July 11 meeting, the Town Council voted unanimously to suspend council rules in order to skip consideration of the mayor’s appointment of Scott Owens as a new town attorney and instead consider awarding the contract to its current attorney, Brian West. With the rules suspended, they unanimously awarded the town’s legal services contract […]

When the local District Court ruled against the landowners along Hughes Creek who want to keep the gate up that blocks Hughes Creek Road at about the nine-mile mark, they took their case to the Montana Supreme Court. On July 9, the Supreme Court issued an order denying that appeal and supporting the lower court’s […]