| February 11, 2010
Activity night includes community, promotes quality family time
Kate Haake/Valley Journal
“Spider-Man” Seth Daniels is amazed by the domino effect as he plays with his friends at family night at Glacier View Christian School.
By Kate Haake
Valley Journal
A family that plays together, stays together.
At least that’s the idea behind Glacier View Christian School’s family night last Thursday.
Friendly faces, a hearty meal and good old-fashioned family fun warmed the cafeteria and gymnasium of GVCS, welcoming in both strangers and friends to a night of family fun. The evening was the first family night to be held at the school and judging by the success of the event, it will definitely not be the last.
“It’s great to see the building full,” GVCS teacher Kathy Edwards said.
More than 50 people from the local community attended the school’s family night. And the event is open to anyone who would like to spend some quality time with their family.
“We really want it to be a community event,” member of the GVCS’s school ..........
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Chief Cliff Singers to perform at Winter Olympics
Berl Tiskus/Valley Journal
Drumsticks rest on the Chief Cliff Singers drum in between songs. The Chief Cliff Singers will perform at the Winter Olympic Games.
By Berl Tiskus
Valley Journal
ELMO — The 2010 Winter Olympic Games are coming on Feb. 12, and no one is more excited then the Chief Cliff Singers. The drum group will be heading to Vancouver, British Columbia, to perform at the Olympics on Feb. 19. according to Mike Kenmille. Mike heads up the Chief Cliff Singers and is also a Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Councilman.
The Chief Cliff Singers will perform with the Ktuxna Dance Troupe for 25 minutes at 11 a.m. Canadian time Mike said. The group will drum and sing a shake song, a flag song and one other song, which Mike hopes they will allow the Chief Cliff Singers to select.
Chief Cliff had joined forces with these dancers from their sister tribe in Canada twice before, in 1982 and in 2002. The two groups would work together more, Mike said, but many members of the Chief Cliff Singers can’t just pack up and leave their jobs. .........
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Pure gasoline still top product at Jette Store
Melea Burke/Valley Journal
A sign at the Jette Store north of Polson in November shows the owner's commitment to selling "regular old fuel," which he believes is a superior product to ethanol-blended gasoline.
Valley Journal
POLSON — “Real gasoline. No ethanol.” Proudly displayed on the reader board outside Jeff Schumaker’s Conoco station, known locally as the Jette Store, that slogan raises many questions about what motorists are putting in their fuel tanks these days.
And according to Schumaker, who opened the Jette Store nine years ago, the answers aren’t good when ethanol is involved. In fact, he believes they’re bad enough to warrant him taking a stand as the only gas station in Lake County to avoid ethanol-blended fuel entirely.
Over the last decade, ethanol — a grain alcohol most commonly produced from corn when manufactured in the U.S. — has been touted by (some) environmentalists and politicians as one of the alternative fuels that could save the country from dependence on foreign oil and perhaps the world from global warming. Ethanol became an even hotter topic during campaigning for the ...........
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Man jumps from Polson bridge
By Berl Tiskus
Valley Journal
POLSON — A male apparently attempted suicide by jumping off the Armed Forces Memorial Bridge into the icy waters of Flathead Lake at about 5 p.m. on Feb. 3.
Polson Police Chief Doug Chase credited Polson Police Sergeant Wade Nash and Tribal Law Enforcement Officer Orsino Walker with jumping into the water to reach the male, who was face down in the water.
Nash and Walker were in the icy water up to their upper chests and pulled the victim closer to shore until they were relieved by Polson Volunteer firefighters who had arrived on the scene in ice rescue suits.
The firefighters took over towing the victim to shore since Nash and Walker were becoming hypothermic and starting to falter.
Firefighters on shore gathered blankets to wrap up the law enforcement officers while Emergency Medical Technicians provided CPR to the victim according to ........
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Five escape with minor injuries in 3-car crash
Melea Burke/Valley Journal
Emergency personnel work to free people trapped inside their vehicles after a wreck Friday in Ravalli.
By Melea Burke
Valley Journal
RAVALLI — A three-vehicle accident at the intersection of U.S. Highway 93 and Hwy. 200 sent five people to the hospital with minor injuries and slowed traffic to a crawl for an hour and a half Friday afternoon, Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Terry Rosenbaum said.
The collision happened just after 2:30 p.m. when the driver of a red Ford Five Hundred sedan, with two passengers aboard, attempted to cross from Old Highway 93 directly to Hwy. 200. A Franz Family Bakeries truck was stopped at the traffic light on Hwy. 200, preparing to turn left into the northbound lane of Hwy. 93. The driver of the red sedan apparently didn’t notice a white Dodge Caravan approaching in the southbound lane of Hwy. 93, Rosenbaum explained, and pulled out in front of the minivan.
“I think the driver of the red vehicle just wasn’t .......
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Mission considers new police car
By Melea Burke
Valley Journal
ST. IGNATIUS — A new patrol car could be in the works for the St. Ignatius Police Department if the town council approves an amendment to the budget. A public hearing on the proposed change will be held at the March 2 council meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. at City Hall.
Police Chief Shay Clairmont said Ronan Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep has six 2010 Dodge Charger police cars on order, and only three of the vehicles were spoken for as of the Feb. 2 town council meeting.
“They’re in production right now, from what Mr. Wunderlich said,” Clairmont noted.
The specially outfitted cars are priced at $24,481, and would be a huge improvement over the aging vehicles the officers drive now, he said.
”One of the nice things about (the Charger) … it only uses four cylinders when you’re driving around town (and) has the ability to do better on gas than the Impala,” Clairmont said. .......
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Town Council approves second phase of St. Ignatius skatepark
Melea Burke Haake/Valley Journal
Young skaters watch a competition held at the Skate Ignatius Skatepark in 2008.
By Melea Burke
Valley Journal
ST. IGNATIUS — After a long wait, the Skate Ignatius Skatepark project is once again running full steam ahead.
The St. Ignatius Town Council approved a revised plan for the skatepark’s second phase at its Feb. 2 meeting. The plan, which is “just pretty much scaled down” from the original version, includes a combination of street and bowl-skating elements that are designed to allow both beginners and more experienced skaters to enjoy the park, explained Skate Ignatius organizer Kristie Nerby.
“We still were able to keep the kidney bowl design,” she added.
Dreamland Skateparks, the same company that designed and built Phase I, is on board for the second half of the project. Once workers break ground, construction should take four to six weeks, unless things move even faster as with Phase I.
“These people build skateparks all over the world,” Nerby said. “They’re amazing, how hard and fast they can work and still put out a quality product.”
The budget for the revamped 7,000-square-foot design is $90,000, a significant reduction from the $263,500 projected for the original ........
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Haitian disaster hits close to home for Polson family
Berl Tiskus/Valley Journal
Tifanni Watkins holds her son Adlerson, 3, as daughter Aurrora does her homework nearby. The Watkins family adopted Adlerson and Peterson from Haiti.
By Berl Tiskus
Valley Journal
POLSON — “Pr rile” or suckers are the perfect treat for Peterson and Adlerson Watkins, but they also like “fromage” or string cheese sticks.
Since Peterson, 5, and Adlerson, 3, are from Haiti, they speak Haitian Creole, which is where the words “pr rile” and ”fromage” come from. Haitian Creole is a mix of French, African dialects and Spanish.
Tifanni and Mike Watkins want to keep the two boys bilingual, so the Watkins speak Haitian Creole at home, although the boys are fluent in English. The Watkins welcomed the two boys into their family when Adlerson and Peterson were adopted on June 26, 2009.
Montana is far from Haiti, which is really beautiful, with mountains “like our mountains,” and the ocean. The Watkins visited Haiti twice before bringing Peterson and Adlerson home, and Aurrora, 8, joined her parents when they went to retrieve her brothers.
“It took two years to bring them home,” Tifanni said, describing how long ........
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