Doug Roll still wore work clothes from his automotive shop when he was sworn in as Libby's new mayor last Thursday.
Roll was selected over Charlene Leckrone by a 4-2 vote of the City Council to replace Tony Berget, Brad Fuqua of the Western News of Libby reports. Berget was recently elected to the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners.
“Probably running for mayor,” he responded, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Roll, who'll serve as mayor at least until next November's election, is a member of the City Council, as is Leckrone. He'll face some immediate challenges beyond the ongoing asbestos cleanup issues in Libby.
There's the now-vacant seat on the council to fill and a water and sewer project in Cabinet Heights to shepherd. Roll said he needs to sit down with Berget to go over the latter project.
“We need to figure out how much money we've got and how much more money we need, but it is something we did promise folks in Cabinet Heights that we'd get done,” he said.
Roll is a 1973 graduate of Libby High School and ex-Marine. If nothing else, he understands the economic trials the town faces. He said he had to lay off his help at DP Automotive just last week.
Bigfork will go along with new classification
It'll nearly double its in-conference travel time and mileage, but a move from Class A to Class B won't be appealed by Bigfork High School.
The Bigfork School Board voted 4-2 on Nov. 12 not to appeal the Montana High School Association's recommendation to make the drop in classification, reported Jordan Dawson of the Bigfork Eagle. The decision came after more than an hour of discussion in the face of the school's declining enrollment.
Most of the school's teams will compete in District 7B, which includes Eureka, Plains, St. Ignatius, Thompson Falls and Troy. They'll leave behind the Northwestern A, including Flathead Valley neighbors Columbia Falls, Whitefish, Polson and Ronan.
A study researched by school administrators found that the Class A schedule required a total of 243.5 miles and five hours, 45 minutes of in-league travel time each way. The Class B schedule will entail 457.1 miles and 10 hours, 12 minutes each way. However, it'll be a wash, they said, because Bigfork teams can play their current Class A neighbors in non-conference games.
“We looked at travel, money, scholarships and all of the key points,” Superintendent Russ Kinzer said. “But what it came down to was whether our students could compete at a fair level. We have to do what's best for the kids.”
There were objections to the move, including one by sophomore basketball and volleyball player Mallery Knoll. She said Bigfork is competitive in Class A in most areas.
“Maybe we're not as educated as we should be about this, but I haven't talked to anyone that plays sports that wants to go to Class B,” Knoll said.
Lilac buds in November not terribly unusual
Have these lilacs lost their minds?
Phyllis Marks recently noticed buds on her lilac bushes in Garrison, a very unautumn-like thing to see. She wondered aloud to the Silver State Post if the spring bloomers were doomed.
Probably not, a couple of growers in the area said.
“I wouldn't get too excited, it's nothing unusual,” Ed Hebbe IV from Circle H Growers told the Silver State.
Lanette King of King's Eastside Greenhouse attributed the lilac buds to near-record high temperatures in the area this fall. King said perennials go dormant in the fall, but when an unseasonably warm spell hits they're awakened again. The lilacs are in essence suffering from sleep deprivation.
If it gets cold and stays cold, the lilacs should be OK, she said.
“Plants should be encouraged to go to sleep. Don't give them any fertilizer or water,” King said. “That would not be good.”
Kittens stolen from Thompson Falls shelter
Someone broke into the Thompson Falls animal shelter and stole three kittens.
“I'm very, very worried about them,” Wanda Thorpe, president of the TRACS shelter, told the Clark Fork Valley Press. “One of them we had since it was two weeks old and the other two were already adopted and were just waiting to be neutered.”
The kit-napping took place either late Thursday or early Friday, Nov. 13 or 14. When workers arrived Friday morning, they discovered a window and a sliding door open. All of the kennels for cats were open, but the escaped cats were rounded up. The 8-week-old kittens were not. Two are brothers, both of them light gray tabby cats. The other is female and gray with tabby spots on her head, her back and above where her tail would be if she had one.
Thorpe said nothing was damaged in the shelter, and apparently nothing else went missing.
A $500 reward for information about the kittens has been set up, thanks to the Marvin Fund of Montana, which researches animal cruelty cases. As of last week, the Sanders County Sheriff's Office had a couple of leads. Call the TRACS office at 827-8722 or the sheriff's office with information.
Weeklies Reader is compiled by reporters Vince Devlin and Kim Briggeman.
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