
POLSON — District Judge C. B. McNeil retired on Sept. 5 after nearly 30 years on the bench. Judge McNeil, after 18 years in private practice, was elected in November of 1984 as the first judge in the new 20th Judicial District. The district covered Lake and Sanders County. On Thursday, Lake County Commissioners announced that they named the courtroom after Judge McNeil, who was the first judge to hear cases in the room. “It will be known as the C. B. McNeil District Courtroom,” said Bill Barron, Lake County Commissioner. On hand in McNeil’s courtroom were friends and associates of Judge McNeil, including District Judge Deborah Kim Christopher,...
POLSON — A house fire at the Shipley residence off Rocky Point Road on Sept. 7 gutted the kitchen and bathroom area, according to Karen Sargeant, Polson Fire Department Public Information Officer. The fire started at between 7:30 and 8 p.m. and did approximately $200,000 in damage to the prope...
POLSON — With the new stoplight on U.S. Highway 93 at the turn to the Walmart Supercenter on Memory Lane, locals know the store opening is coming soon. “Yes,” said Dan DeWitt, store manager, “the new store’s grand opening is Oct. 23.” The Walmart Supercenter at...

POLSON — Polson schools welcomed seven new teachers and four student teachers back to school on September 3. Charlotte Delaney joins School District 23 as a speech language pathologist. A graduate of the University of Wyoming, Delaney taught in Wyoming and Colorado before moving to Polson, w...

LAKE COUNTY — A plan to bail out the Montana Teacher’s Retirement System will cost Lake County school districts more than $500,000 this year, resulting in less relief to the taxpayer and the inability to build reserve funds, according to local education officials. The plan was created i...
PABLO —Three juvenile suspects were taken into custody Thursday afternoon and charged with vandalism of Salish Kootenai College. Lake County undersheriff Dan Yonkin said offices were broken into and small vehicles were damaged during the crime that was discovered early Thursday. Colle...

POLSON — Sheets of rain didn’t discourage Governor Steve Bullock or Denise Juneau, Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction, as they spoke at the Polson Graduation Matters Kickoff Celebration Thursday. Governor Bullock, raindrops dripping from his head, told Polson kids, “I’m c...

LAKE COUNTY — Storms that brought relief for dry Mission Valley over the past few weeks also triggered three lightning fueled fires that were being fought or monitored on Monday. Helicopters, single engine air-tankers and 28 personnel are fighting the five-acre Eagle Pass Fire, located in the ...

ST. IGNATIUS – Louise Lamontagne has spent much of the past 20 years quietly creating art in her St. Ignatius studio, with a picturesque mountain view not unlike the beautiful landscape paintings she is known for. “When you look up Louise Lamontagne or someone thinks of me, that is what ...
RONAN – The Ronan City Council directed city attorney Jessica Cole-Hodgkinson to draft clearer language for vicious animal and town beautification ordinances at its Aug. 26 regular meeting. Last year, the council passed an ordinance that allows residents to make a formal complaint about lawns that a...