Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
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While it may look at little different in 2020, Frontier Days is still a go for 2020. The popular annual event is scheduled for Friday, July 24, and Saturday, July 25 in downtown Whitehall. This year's event will include bingo in the park, historical tours, museum gab fest, parade, horseshoe tournament, Mine/Chamber BBQ and vendors. Officials announced Tuesday the Ranchers Roundup Rodeo had been cancelled. For more information please click on the special publications link on this...
The Whitehall summer school program came to an early end last week with students testing positive for Covid-19. According to Superintendent Hannah Nieskens, the positive cases in the school setting did trigger the Jefferson County Health Department to place 29 students and seven staff members into a 14-day quarantine. "As a result, the entire summer school program did shut down; this would have been the last week of the program," she said. "Thankfully, the students are doing well, and I wish...
Whitehall area residents hoping to "Rock the Rivers" later this summer will have to wait until next year. Officials for the annual Rockin' the Rivers music festival at the "Bridge" in Cardwell announced last week they will be postponing the event until 2021. The festival had originally been scheduled for August 13 to 15. A release from the festival said after months of monitoring and discussions with our team and local health officials, organizers are absolutely heartbroken to announce that in...
The vandalism of campaign signs has once again become an issue in the Whitehall area. Montana Senate District 38 Candidate Jim Buterbaugh reported the vandalism of an 8 by an 8-foot sign on the eastbound side of Interstate 90, just east of Whitehall. Along with being a sign for his campaign, the top half of the sign showed support for U.S. President Donald Trump. Buterbaugh said he was not surprised this happened, but very disappointed. He added that it appears someone went at the sign with a...
The Whitehall Town Council voted Monday to move forward with a 30 mill levy increase to generate funding for law enforcement and the Whitehall Volunteer Fire Department. This would be the first general fund mill levy increase in Whitehall since the early 1970s and would only affect residents in town limits. According to Town Clerk/Treasurer Summer Fellows, the Public Safety Mill Levy would be an increase of $40.50 per year on a $100,000 home and $81.50 on a $200,000 home. She said the next step...
Jefferson County Health Department Officials are currently working with St. James Hospital about possible sentinel testing. A release from the county stated they have been working with St. James on getting this planned for county residents, but no dates or times have been established as both entities are busy and short-staffed. In an article from the Missoula Current, Public Health Nurse Pam Boyd discussed sentinel testing in Missoula. "It's a surveillance system where we look at specific...
The annual Fiber Arts Festival is returning July 18-19. Local artisans, Kami Noyes and Betty Kujawa, are teaming up with artisans to host the fourth annual Fiber Arts Festival, located outside Whitehall, MT, at the beautiful Copper K Barn. The Fiber Festival is similar to Art in the Park--only with textile arts. People interested in purchasing products directly from producers are welcome to come browse items such as hats, scarves, socks, pottery, soaps, yarn, art and more, all in a friendly...
Work continued last week on the Montana Department of Transportation Whitehall ADA Sidewalk Project. According to MDOT, sidewalks on Legion Avenue from Brooke Street west were completed and ready for use. This week, crews will continue to work on Legion Avenue from Brooke Street to A street. By the end of the week, they also hope to begin demolition on Whitehall Street. They will be starting on the south end of Whitehall Street moving north, with work on the east side of the street happening...
Governor Steve Bullock and Lt. Governor Mike Cooney released last Thursday the Governor's Plan for Reopening Safe and Healthy Schools for Montana to provide flexible guidance for public schools to prepare to offer in-person instruction in the fall. "We are acutely aware of the role played by in-person teaching, not only in the students' lives, but also in the lives of the entire family. Public education has shaped who we are today, and we want to make certain that our children have the same...
Last week, as a part of ongoing community involvement efforts, the Whitehall Chamber of Commerce put out a survey to businesses and community members alike. Many entities have been working hard to ensure that Whitehall Frontier Days 2020 can happen in a safe and healthy manner. The survey requested input from the community about what events they would like to see in 2020. Through the survey, ongoing discussions amongst the board and with member businesses it was decided that Frontier Days 2020...
The Montana Department of Transportation is making improvements on 10.3 miles of Whitetail Road (S-399) that have caused maintenance issues for years in Jefferson County. "There are sections of Whitetail Road that have historically been problem areas for Jefferson County," said MDT Engineering Project Manager Shane Watson. "Moisture-sensitive soils consisting mostly of silt and clay make the road difficult to maintain. Moisture from rain and snow causes the soil and the road to deteriorate...
Jefferson County Health Department Officials announced Thursday what had been reported as a confirmed case of COVID-19 has been determined to be a false positive test result. The department had reported Sunday a female resident between 60 and 69 had tested positive for COVID-19. Molly Carey of the JCHD said even though the tests that detects COVID-19 is very reliable, no test is 100% accurate all the time. “COVID-19 is still a real threat to the health and safety of our community. We want to remind everyone to remain vigilant over the h...
Officials for the Madison and Jefferson County Fair announced last week how they would be proceeding with their events in 2020. The Madison County Fair Board decided last week the event scheduled for August 12 to 17 is going to happen, but only with 4H and FFA shows. "Sadly, due to COVID, the Board has cancelled all entertainment, indoor vendors, open class exhibits, parade, and the NRA rodeo. We are working on a plan to possibly host a ranch rodeo and a team roping. More details will be...
There was more great news last week for Whitehall Schools with the notification they were one of four districts statewide to receive the Office of Public Instruction's Cook Fresh Award. Superintendent Hannah Nieskens said Thursday Whitehall School District's food service program staff, under the leadership of Kathy Coughlin, received OPI's Cook Fresh Award for their excellence and dedication to serving nutritious school meals, cooking from scratch, and motivation to exceed requirements....
There was some amazing recent news for the Whitehall School District. The Montana Office of Public Instruction announced the local district was a Montana Comprehensive Literacy State Development Project (MCLSDP) grant recipient. According to Whitehall Superintendent Hannah Nieskens, 129 school districts in the state were eligible to apply for the competitive grant. "Whitehall School District was eligible to apply because the district serves a high percentage of high needs students as identified...
It was a busy weekend for firefighters in Southwest Montana. Firefighters from across the area responded to the Lump Gulch Fire in north Jefferson County near Sheep Mountain, the Sappington Fire east of Lewis and Clark Caverns, and two fires in the Clarkston Area. LUMP GULCH On Saturday, June 13 a fire ignited in Lump Gulch in northern Jefferson County near Sheep Mountain. As of press time the fire is approximately 1,500 acres and considered to be 15% contained. The fire cause is still under...
The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), in partnership with Helena Sand and Gravel, White Resources Group and Stahly Engineering, is updating sidewalk corners and non-compliant mid-block sidewalk sections throughout the Town of Whitehall. Improvements to sidewalk corners will allow all users to get on and off sidewalks with more ease. Updates will include new curb ramps and wider sidewalk openings at intersections. Additionally, a textured ground surface intended to alert users with impa...
The Whitehall Community Pool will open after all in 2020. Near the conclusion of Monday night's council meeting, the governing body approved a motion from council member Shawn Hoagland to use the $4,622.80 remaining in the pool funding from the 2019-20 fiscal year budget to open the pool starting July 7. The vote comes after the announcement at the May Council meeting that the pool would be closed for the season because of COVID-19 phase opening timelines and getting the proper training for...
The administrative team at the Whitehall School District took time at last week's Board of Trustees meeting to recognize staff for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Superintendent Hannah Nieskens said the staff was resilient, flexible, and did a great job the past three months in circumstances that were completely undesirable and unwanted. She highlighted the kitchen crew for making thousands of meals and the other staff members who helped distribute them. "I'm grateful for everyone,"...
Lawmakers in Washington are back at it again. As we speak, they’re debating whether they should send bailout money to the states. This is not the best path forward. Why? Because many states have mismanaged their budgets for years (well before this pandemic). When the first paycheck stimulus was created in the senate, the total bill was less than a trillion dollars, then the house got ahold of it and it ballooned to 2 trillion dollars. The latest stimulus plan will give 2 more trillion to states, states that have spent their citizen provided r...
Jefferson County voters narrowly defeated Tuesday a levy increase for both the library system and nine-mill for a non-profit animal shelter. The library increase was defeated by a vote of 1,209 to 1,058. The increase would have brought an additional $141,534 each year for the Whitehall and Boulder community libraries. The levy for a non-profit animal shelter was defeated by a vote of 2,527 to 2,490. The money would have raised $270,000 each year for the proposed shelter. in the Republican race f...
Leafy spurge is a perennial noxious weed that has sticky, milky white sap. The sap can cause a bad reaction if it gets in people's eyes or on their skin. Cows and much of our native wildlife will not regularly graze it, but sheep and goats can be taught to like it. Spurge has a very deep and extensive root system so pulling or burning it do not work. There are herbicides that work well if used correctly, contact your County Weed Coordinator for information, equipment, and chemicals. The...
The Whitehall Class of 2020 will graduate in six separate ceremonies scheduled for this Sunday in Varsity Gym. With such an upheaval in everyone's lives this spring, we are thankful we are able to provide senior graduates and their families a unique and personal ceremony. On May 31st, graduates will be able to receive their diplomas during small ceremonies scheduled throughout the day. Each ceremony will include the graduation video, which includes speeches from the guest speaker Holly Harper,...
Caverns tours have started for the season at the Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park. According to park officials, this year there will be new tour protocols to limit the spread of COVID-19 while keeping park staff and visitors safe. The park will offer guided tours of the cave Fridays through Monday. Classic Cave tours will not be offered at the current time and cave tours will consist of the Paradise and Grand Finale Rooms. The modified tour entails a one-half mile, level walk to the cave....
The Headwaters Country Jam has been rescheduled. The popular annual event originally scheduled June 18 to 20 at the "Bridge" near Cardwell will now take place August 20 to 22. The most recent lineup listed on the Country Jam website includes Dustin Lynch, Clay Walker, Midland, Ashley McBride, Mitchell Tenpenny, Blanco Brown, the Cadillac Three and Tim Montana. TICKET INFORMATION Beginning May 21, all customers who purchased 2020 festival tickets through the Headwaters Country Jam ticketing page...
