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Articles written by John Hamilton


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  • New Cats on the block

    John Hamilton|Sep 2, 2021

    PLAINS – Mountain Cats, Bobcats, whatever you want to call them, they can still play some pretty good 8-Man football. The newly rechristened Superior Bobcats, who broke away from a cooperative with Alberton for sports this summer and are no longer considered the Clark Fork Mountain Cats, opened the season with a 66-8 win over the Plains Horsemen in Plains Friday. Coach Jeff Schulz's Bobcast scored early and often against the Horsemen, who were playing their first game for new head coach Ryan Har...

  • CHUCKY'S BACK!

    John Hamilton|Sep 2, 2021

    Maybe Chucky, that scary, ugly, movie star doll who keeps coming back to life and creating all kinds of mayhem on the silver screen, should be the team mascot for the Thompson Falls Blue Hawk football squad. After all, the Hawks have been a recurring nightmare to the other teams of Western Conference 8-Man football since entering the league at the beginning of the 2019 season, winning 16 of the 17 conference games played that year and in 2020, and dastardly Chucky might be considered an appropriate choice as a mascot based on those results....

  • SOME THINGS OLD AND SOME THINGS NEW

    John Hamilton|Sep 2, 2021

    Starting the season with some things old, and some things new, the latest Thompson Falls Blue Hawk volleyball team again looks like a legitimate contender for Western B honors and quite possibly another State B tournament bid. Although no high school athlete should dare be considered old, coach Sandra Kazmireczak has three returning District 7B all-conference players back this year to anchor the squad in seniors Scarlette Schwindt, Elli Pardee and Arianna Wood represent the Hawks' old guard....

  • County netters jump in to play

    John Hamilton|Sep 2, 2021

    With the preseason tournaments out of the way, the volleyball action gets real this week in western Montana. Fresh off playing in the Mission Tournament Saturday, coach Jesse Butcher and her Trotters will again compete in District 7B this season, after several years in the local District 14C conference. The Trotters will return to Mission for a 7B conference match Thursday and will then host the Arlee Scarlets in Plains Saturday. Also fresh off an appearance in the Mission tourney, coach Dana Grupenhoff and her Noxon Red Devils will visit...

  • Quik Stop hanging on

    John Hamilton|Sep 2, 2021

    Feed-N-Fuel shot the low team gross, Bear Muscle the low team net and Noxon Quik Stop took over the league lead in Tuesday Night Men’s golf action at River’s Bend last week. Ryan Ostwald led Feed-N-Fuel around the Bend with the low individual gross of 42 and Doug Fisher captured low net honors with a well-adjusted 31. Ostwald, Kelly Kovarik, Mike Normandin and Dave Petteys posted the low team gross of 176 for Feed-N-Fuel while Rick Hagedorn, John Mosher and two unnamed substitutes put together the low team net of 138 for Bear Muscle Fitness. In...

  • Wild Coyote takes lead

    John Hamilton|Sep 2, 2021

    Wild Coyote slipped back into the league lead as Highlead shot the low team gross and Moore Oil the low team net in Wednesday Night Men’s league play at River’s Bend last week. As is his golfing wont lately, Ryan Ostwald shot the low individual gross of 38 and Randy Hojem used his handicap to arrive at the low net of 33. Chadd Laws, Jesse Mosher, John Mosher and Hojem combined to shoot the low team gross and RT Brown, Bary Moore, Gary Moe and Larry Eddy added up the low team net of 141. In other Wednesday highlights, Paul Flemmer was clo...

  • Jeanne, Tina stay hot

    John Hamilton|Sep 2, 2021

    It was the Jeanne and Tina show at River’s Bend Thursday as Jeanne Holleran and Tina Wheeler shot the low team gross and posted the low individual gross and net rounds in Women’s League action. Wheeler led all the ladies of the Bend with the low gross of 46 while Holleran calculated the low net of 33, and the pair combined for the low team gross of 99. The current league leaders, Kristy Beaty and Danice Toyias stayed ahead of the pace by posting the low team net of 76. In other Thursday action, Hollearn was closest to the pin in four on No....

  • Savage Heat vanquish Valier Panthers

    John Hamilton|Sep 2, 2021

    Just another day at the office for the powerful Hot Springs Savage Heat. Coach Jim Lawson and his hard-hitting Heat opened the 2021 Montana 6-Man football season with a 47-0 road win over Valier Friday night. Now 1-0 in non-conference action, the Heat open their home schedule Friday with another non-conference game against Big Sandy. Savage Heat fans may remember the Pioneers from the 2012 State 6-Man championship game in Hot Springs, one that the Heat won easily, but that game seems a lifetime away now. Big Sandy opened season play with a...

  • Devils dogged by first-game jitters

    John Hamilton|Sep 2, 2021

    Those first game jitters. If the multi-hour bus ride to the Power-Dutton-Brady area wasn’t enough, the first-game jitters were as coach Bart Haflich and his Noxon Red Devils gave up a bunch of points early and dropped their 6-Man football season opener 56-22 Saturday. Now 0-1 in non-conference action, the Devils play another non-conference game Friday hosting the Tri-Cities Titans (a cooperative between Hobson, Moore and Judith Gap) on the turf of Jenny Lampshire Field at NHS Friday night. “Power-Dutton-Brady is a good team but mental err...

  • THORNE CREEK FIRE

    John Hamilton|Aug 26, 2021

    Finally, with a little help from above in the form of welcome rains, this firestorm of 2021 seems to be mercifully over. The Thorne Creek fire, the big event in Thompson Falls all summer long as it has worked its way southeast along the slopes of Silcox Mountain from its original starting point in the Graves Creek area, was stopped in its tracks last week when rainstorms moved into western Montana and thoroughly soaked Sanders County’s biggest wildfire of the year. Ignited by lightning back on July 7, the Thorne Creek fire has dominated the h...

  • Fire camp a fine-tuned operation

    John Hamilton|Aug 26, 2021

    Food, a shower and a safe place to sleep when not on the front lines; these are the basics emergency workers like wildland firefighters have a right to. The Thorne Creek fire camp just southwest of Plains, more or less a tent city on steroids designed and built from the ground up to support the effort, has done all that and more for the firefighters and fire staff working on that stubborn fire for over seven weeks now. Knowing that all their basic needs are met is a big thing for workers,...

  • Fall athletes ready for action

    John Hamilton|Aug 26, 2021

    All systems are go for fall sports. The fall high school prep sports schedules all begin this week with a busy first week of action in football, volleyball and cross country. In football, the only Sanders County team that will open any season at home this week will be the Plains Horsemen, who will host the newly reminted Superior Bobcats. The Bobcats are back as a one-school entity after breaking with the Alberton cooperative the schools were recently locked into, with the team then being called the Clark Fork Mountain Cats. The game, which...

  • Pardee, Beaty low for ladies league

    John Hamilton|Aug 26, 2021

    Connie Brown and Jan Thompson teamed up to shoot the low team gross of 110 and Kristy Beaty and Danice Toyias put together the low team net of 71 in Women’s League play at River’s Bend last Thursday. Kim Pardee shot the low individual gross round of 47 and Beaty the low net of 32, helping her and Toyias hold on to the league lead in the standings. In other highlights, Kim Sparks was closest to the pin in four on No. 2, Liz Morkert rolled in the long putt on No. 3, Pardee put her tee shot closest to the pin on No. 5, Doree Thilmony knocked down...

  • Ostwald leads play

    John Hamilton|Aug 26, 2021

    Ryan Ostwald stole the show in individual play as Hagedorn Land Surveying shot the low team gross and Wild Coyote the low team net in Wednesday Night Men’s league action at River’s Bend last week. Ostwald went under par with a round of 35, hitting closest to the pin on No. 5, draining the long putt on No. 6 and blasting the long drive of the night on No. 9 to highlight play for the night. Hagedorn Surveying linksters Paul Flemmer, Rick Hagedorn, Kelly Kovarik and Bernie Groshong teamed up to shoot the low team gross of 175, while Wild Coy...

  • Thorne Creek fire tops 35,000 acres

    John Hamilton|Aug 19, 2021

    The Thorne Creek fire seems to just keep going and going and going. A moving, growing, often glowing fixture on the landscape in the mountains north of Thompson Falls for over 40 days now, the Thorne Creek blaze, which was ignited by lightning on July 7, saved some of its most explosive runs for last week, burning over 6,000 acres Sunday and almost 4,000 more Monday to arrive at its current estimated acreage of 35,993. Notes from Monday night's infrared mapping flight indicated that large smoke...

  • Foster, Rasor take top Tuesday honors

    John Hamilton|Aug 19, 2021

    Custom Ventures won the low team gross and moved into contention for the second-half title to highlight play in Tuesday Night Men’s league action at River’s Bend Golf Course last week. As Custom Ventures golfers Kade Pardee, Scott Pardee, Ty Pardee and Doug Fisher teamed up to total 166 and grab low team gross honors, Noxon Quik Stop players Rusty Sharp, Bruce Haflich, Shawn Wilkinson and Scott Rasor combined their handicaps to arrive at the low team net of 141. Easy Street Autoworks remains in first place in the second-half standings with 108...

  • Beaty, Toyias team up to keep top spot

    John Hamilton|Aug 19, 2021

    Shooting the low team net of 67, Kristy Beaty and Danice Toyias stayed in first place in Women’s League play at River’s Bend last Thursday. Still in second place, Jeanne Holleran and Tina Wheeler posted the low team gross of 110. Katrina Nygaard led the ladies of the Bend in with the low gross round of 45 while Beaty calculated the low net of 32. Blair Brooks scored the only chip-in of the round on No. 13. In other Thursday highlights, Lana Nolen was closest to the pin in four on No. 11, Wheeler put in the long putt on No. 12, Nygaard the lon...

  • Crews work to contain blaze

    John Hamilton|Aug 12, 2021

    The battle with the Thorne Creek fire is slowly but surely being won. Since the lightning-caused fire in the rugged Thorne Creek drainage sprang to life way back on July 7, it has dominated the skyline just north of Thompson Falls for over five weeks now, billowing smoke and producing spectacular views of the forest afire to residents of the Clark Fork Valley below, especially at night. Battling not only the fire but also continuing shortages of personnel and vital firefighting equipment and...

  • Whitefish CU wins in 1-2-3 golf play

    John Hamilton|Aug 12, 2021

    Whitefish Credit Union golfers Rick Kendall, Rusty Sharp, Wally Gibe and Chuck Manry added up their scores to win the 1-2-3 game in Wednesday Night Men’s league action at scenic River’s Bend last week. In other play-night action, Mike Baxter was closest to the pin in three on No. 2, Kendall cupped the long putt on No. 3, Dennis Gripp put his tee shot closest to the hole on No. 5, Jay Dowell knocked down the long putt on No. 6, Ryan Ostwald was closest to the pin on No. 8, Jesse Mosher smacked the long drive on No. 9 and his old man John Mos...

  • Toyias and Nygaard shoot best Thursday

    John Hamilton|Aug 12, 2021

    Liz Morkert and Lana Nolen teamed up to lead the way around River’s Bend in Thursday Night Women’s league golf play last week. Combining to shoot 104 for best low team gross, Nolen also rolled in the long putt on No. 3 and hit the long 49+ drive on No. 9, and Morkert put down the long putt on No. 6. Katrina Nygaard shot the low individual gross of 48, hitting her tee shot closest to the pin on No. 5 and blasting the long drive of the night on No. 9 along the way. Danice Toyias posted the low individual net of 28. Toyias and teammate Kristy Bea...

  • Tuesday men enjoy a fun night of play

    John Hamilton|Aug 12, 2021

    No golf team is perfect. But being the least imperfect is perfectly fine. Aiming for the perfect round last week, Internet Kitchen golfers Ron Belger, Carter Meyer, David Reedy and Ron Reedy won the just-for-fun 1-2-3 game in Tuesday Night Men’s league action at River’s Bend as the league took a week off from regular play. In other play-night highlights, Ryan Ostwald was closest to the pin in three on No. 2, Ty Pardee knocked down the long putt on No. 3, Scott Pardee was closest to the pin off the tee on No. 5, Rusty Sharp chased in the lon...

  • Thorne Creek fire grows to 17,000 acres

    John Hamilton|Aug 5, 2021

    Don’t be fooled by a few days of reduced fire behavior brought on by Sunday’s welcome rain – the Thorne Creek fire is still up there on Silcox Mountain, waiting for another chance to roar back to life. And it has a lot of summer, and a lot of unburned forest left to work with. “The fire is still up there, a living breathing thing, capable of more big runs,” Thorne Creek fire deputy incident commander Mark Goeller of the Northern Region Type 1 incident management team (IMT) told the audience at a...

  • Fire forces evacuations

    John Hamilton|Jul 29, 2021

    That fire on the mountain everyone has been watching is going to be with us for a while. The Thorne Creek fire, which was ignited by lightning July 7 and has been steadily growing and visible from the Clark Fork Valley floor since its inception, will likely be a long-term wildfire event that will be going on for at least several more weeks. The fire has already triggered many evacuation warnings and several actual evacuations as the fire front has moved on the hillside each day. In an effort to... Full story

  • Ladies battle for top spot at River's Bend

    John Hamilton|Jul 29, 2021

    The Thursday night Women’s League leaders want to stay on top, and they played that way last week at River’s Bend. Battling it out for the top spot in league play throughout the second half of the season, the teams of Jeanne Holleran and Tina Wheeler, and of Kristy Beaty and Danice Toyias were at it again last week. Holleran and Wheeler put together the low team gross of 102 and Beaty and Toyias combined their efforts to produce the low team net of 64. Wheeler posted the low individual gross of 46 and Toyias the low individual net of 30. Whe...

  • Tuesday men heat up competition

    John Hamilton|Jul 29, 2021

    Quik Stop or Easy Street, what is it going to be? With Noxon Quik Stop golfers Rusty Sharp, Bruce Haflich, Shawn Wilkinson and Scott Garr compiling the low team net of 140, and Easy Street Autoworks players Ron Beaty, Dave Garr, Charlie Hooten and Rusty Haggard posting the low team gross of 177, the two teams ended up tied for the lead in Tuesday Night Men’s League standings last week at River’s Bend. Ty Pardee had the best round of any of the Tuesday men, firing a 40 for the low individual gross, while Wilkinson grabbed low individual net hon...

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