Articles Written By: Summer Goddard

POLSON — In a district courtroom filled with his family, friends and colleagues Rod Wamsley was honored for his 50 years of employment with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. Lake County Sheriff Don Bell presented Wamsley with a plaque, a certificate of appreciation as well as a LCSO retirement ba...

RAVALLI — A quiet evening at home for a Mission Valley family was interrupted by gusting winds that ripped the roof off of their mobile home last week. Dawn and John McNutt were home with their four children watching television when a loud noise shook the home. “Imagine you’re i...

RONAN — Design plans and a preliminary construction schedule to widen U.S. Hwy. 93 from two to four lanes north of Ronan were shared last week during two virtual open houses held via Zoom. A team of engineers and officials with the Montana Department of Transportation and KLJ Engineering provided pr...
RONAN — During a listening session facilitated by Glacier Country Tourism last week, Lake County community members shared perceived benefits and challenges of area tourism and what they’d like to see in the future for the state’s second largest industry. Founded for the purpose of travel...

POLSON — District Court Judge James Manley experienced a career first in Lake County Drug Court last week when he expunged the record of program graduate Angela Evans. Expungement, according to the American Bar Association, “is the process by which a record of criminal conviction is destroyed ...
POLSON — The suspicious death of a one-year child, who died Saturday, Oct. 2, is being investigated by the Polson Police Department. On Thursday, Sept. 30, Polson police, fire and ambulance responded to a Polson residence for the report of a one-year-old who wasn’t breathing. The child was transp...

RONAN — Representatives from local, county and tribal government met last week to discuss strategies for regulating recreational marijuana sales which are set to begin Jan. 1, 2022. Montana voters approved the sale of recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older during the 2020 election. HB 701, pass...

ST. IGNATIUS — A lack of water, particularly for livestock, was discussed during last week’s regularly scheduled meeting of the Mission Jocko Irrigation District commissioners. “It’s a big deal here for some of us, I’d love to go another month,” Joint Board Chairman Ray...

AURORA, COLORADO — A 20-year-old man from Polson is being charged with first degree murder in the death of his girlfriend. Dakota Chinnock was arrested Sept. 5, for allegedly beating his girlfriend, Amanda Farley, 20, of Polson, to death between the evening of Sept. 4 and the morning of Sept. 5. He ...

How is it that a picture of our dog ended up on our neighbors’ Christmas trees? I smile every time I think about it. Her name was Holly. Holly Noel. Born on Halloween, she was a Christmas gift to my husband Boone. He’d wanted a hunting dog and I’d always wanted a golden retriever. I foun...