August 27, 2009
Melea Burke/Valley Journal
Adult tricycle races at the Stockman's Bar were part of the fun at Saturday's end-of-construction party in Arlee.
Arlee community celebrates end of highway construction
By Melea Burke
Valley Journal
ARLEE — The dust from a hectic, trying summer of road construction is finally settling in Arlee. Locals, relieved that they won’t have to find new routes around town every few days and delighted by the downtown area’s makeover, celebrated the town’s new look with a community party Saturday evening.
Kids rode bikes and scooters on the freshly paved Main Street, enjoying the last few days of freedom before vehicle traffic takes over the road. Below shiny new street lamps, adults mingled on the ample sidewalks and enjoyed music from local music groups Odyssey and The Dirty Corner Band. Face painting, cowboy poetry readings and adult tricycle races were all part of the fun.
Dave Marsolek, who lives a block from Main Street, enjoyed a seat in the shade while watching grandkids play in the street. When the road opens, he hopes more residents will make use of the new sidewalks for bicycle travel — he said he’s one of three adults who ride bikes around town.
“Hopefully that will change,” he said. “I’m glad we have somewhere to ride (that’s) not in the street … It’s going to be great.”
For more of this story, click here
Bridge quandary continues, county officials await state’s recommendations
Melea Burke/Valley Journal
Commissioner Paddy Trusler makes a point during a discussion with residents about the status of the South Valley Creek Road bridge.
Valley Journal
Lake County Commissioners are still waiting for a report from state bridge inspectors before they decide whether to repair or close the South Valley Creek Bridge, commission chairman Paddy Trusler said Tuesday.
Kent Barnes, state bridge engineer with the Montana Department of Transportation, and Doug Moeller, MDT’s Missoula District Administrator, inspected the bridge last week, Trusler said, and now he’s waiting for their recommendation on whether or not temporary repairs to the structure to allow for normal vehicular traffic would be cost-effective.
“What we’re waiting for right now is the report from the state as to what their recommendation would be to get that bridge to 10 tons,” Trusler said in a meeting with South Valley Creek residents Monday. “What I’m really interested in is ‘What is the state willing to certify?’ If we don’t have the information, I’m not inclined to close the bridge on the 30th (of August), but I’m not going to wait six months.”
County officials ordered the South Valley Creek Bridge, which has spanned the Jocko River north of Arlee for nearly 100 years, closed at the end of August after a 2008 MDT inspection of the bridge suggested that it had deteriorated to an unsafe point. But that decision leaves area residents up a creek, so to speak, and with limited emergency services, which they’re not happy about. Frustrations spilled over at Monday’s meeting when South Valley Creek residents learned that Commissioner Chuck Whitson had asked representatives from Stinger Welding, Inc., an Arizona-based bridge design and construction company that’s expanding to Libby, Mont., to take a look at the bridge Monday morning.
“You guys had the people from Helena and Missoula … to look at the bridge the other day, and we got a pretty good report from them — We all heard them — and then you called somebody else in to do the same thing,” Betty Schall told the commissioners. “Why? Can’t you take the state’s word for it?”
For more of this story, click here
Polson trooper drowns in off-duty accident
Jim Blow
Valley Journal
POLSON — A Montana Highway Patrol trooper lost his life in an off-duty accident Sunday morning. Christopher Lee Hoyt, 41, drowned while saving his dog after it fell into a concrete-lined segment of irrigation canal just south of Polson.
According to Lake County Sheriff Lucky Larson, a woman friend of Hoyt called 911 at 11:13 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 23, to report the accident. Sheriff's deputies, Polson ambulance and Polson Fire Department crews responded to the scene. Hoyt's body was recovered and transported to St. Joseph Hospital in Polson, where he was pronounced dead.
The canal feeds irrigation water to agricultural fields south of Polson. The dirt access road, known as Pump Canal Road, runs from Skyline Drive to Kerr Dam Road. On Sunday morning Hoyt, his friend and the dog were taking a walk along the road, a popular recreation area for walkers and joggers.
Apparently the dog fell into canal near the spillway area, where two lined east-west canal segments merge and continue south. The concrete banks rise several feet higher there and provide little for someone in the water to grab hold of. Hoyt got his dog, Emra, out of the canal but he was swept under by the rapid current.
For more of this story, click here
Ronan man charged in fatal stabbing
By Jim Blow
Valley Journal
RONAN — A Ronan man is in custody following a fatal stabbing at a bar in Ronan on Aug. 16.
Allen Metzger, 52, was arraigned in Justice Court in Polson last Tuesday, Aug. 18 on charges of deliberate homicide and carrying a concealed weapon. Judge Chuck Wall ordered Metzger held in Lake County Jail without bond and referred the case to district court.
According to an affidavit filed by the Lake County Attorney in Justice Court, Ronan Police officers interviewed Metzger at a Ronan residence about an earlier altercation with the 50-year-old victim, James L. Finch, in the restroom of the Valley Club. Metzger told the officers that he had just stabbed a guy in the Valley Club Bar.
Court records state that a witness said Metzger had earlier told him he had stabbed Finch and showed him a double-edged, five-inch knife that appeared to have blood on the blade.
Police officers took Metzger in custody and were advised by the dispatcher that a victim named James Finch had been admitted to St. Luke Hospital with a stab wound. Finch was transferred by life-flight helicopter to Missoula where he later died.
For more of this story, click here
People’s Center powwow draws a crowd
Jim Blow/Valley Journal
Sotara Barnaby squints in the late afternoon sun as she dances in her jingle dress during Saturday’s People’s Center Social Powwow.
The People’s Center in Pablo hosted a social powwow on Aug. 22. The powwow began at 5 p.m., and the dancers danced until dark on the lush green lawn.
Invited drums were Yamncut, Post Creek and Allen Pierre’s drum according to Marie Torosian, Education Director for The People’s Center.
“The powwow started off slow,” Torosian said, “But then it just picked up and we had dancers and drummers.”
Torosian said The People’s Center likes to host social powwows because it give younger dancers a chance to dance, and there is no waiting around for contests to be finished.
For more of this story, click here
Valley Journal Marathon is Sept. 5
Melea Burke/Valley Journal
Come skip your way through the Mission Valley for the Valley Journal Marathon and Half-marathon on Saturday, Sept. 5. Download your registration form at www.valleyjournal.net/marathon.pdf Join the fun for a little jog from Ronan to Polson on Saturday, Sept. 5 in the second annual Valley Journal Marathon. A half-marathon will also be run, also finishing in Polson.
The 26.2-mile marathon course begins at the north stoplight in Ronan (U.S. 93 and Terrace Lake Road) and heads northwest through the North Crow area before joining up with the bike/walking path along U.S. 93 and heading up to Polson, where it finishes at Riverside Park. The 13.1-mile half-marathon follows the last half of the marathon course, beginning at the intersection of Minesinger Trail and Mountain View Road and also finishing at Riverside Park.
The marathon starts early, at 6 a.m., while the half-marathon begins at 8:30. Rides will be available from Riverside Park to the starting lines, so park your vehicles at Riverside Park, located next to the Polson Bridge. The last shuttle rides will leave the park at 5:20 a.m. for the marathon and 7:50 a.m. for the half-marathon. If you go in a personal vehicle, we recommend someone drop you off and return the vehicle to Riverside Park.
To download a registration form, visit www.valleyjournal.net/marathon.pdf but also call 676-8989 and let us know your registration is on the way. Otherwise, late registration will be accepted at Riverside Park from 5-5:20 a.m. for the marathon and 7-7:50 a.m. for the half-marathon. Cost is $50 for the marathon and $35 for the half-marathon.
A t-shirt and post-race snacks come with the price of admission. You'll also earn the priceless respect of all those other people you know who can't imagine running that far.
We'd love to have you come join our fun run, regardless of your ability or split times — but please make sure you are healthy enough and in good enough shape to handle these distances. This is all about getting out and enjoying the beauty of the Mission Valley in a healthy way that sorta pays forward some indirect carbon sequestration.
We don't guarantee the weather, but we do guarantee that you'll be slimmer, better looking and your children will be better behaved after you finish the race. If you don't agree, we ask that you run the course again just to make sure. If that doesn't work, we'll void the guarantee.
For more information, call 676-8989. To view the course map, visit www. www.valleyjournal.net/images/marathonmap2009.jpg
To complain about the early start, weather or anything else, visit www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whiner and then visit www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/winner. Replacing one little letter make all the difference in the world.
|
.jpg)
