Prep work starts on Glacier lodges

Xanterra Parks and Resorts is still getting the lodges in Glacier National Park ready for opening this summer, Marc Ducharme, general manager for the Glacier division said last week.

He said maintenance personnel are working in the various properties. Xanterra operates all of the major lodges in Glacier under contract with the Park Service.

Right now, Glacier remains closed to the general public due to the coronavirus epidemic. Lake McDonald Lodge is scheduled to open May 15. But more concrete decisions will come in the next couple of weeks, Ducharme noted. He implored folks to be patient and follow the state and local stay at home orders.

Xanterra has been approved for J-1 visas, Ducharme said. Those are the visas that allow foreign students to work in the Park during the summer months. The company employs about 750 people, both locals and foreign workers, during the summer.

Montana right now requires visitors from out of state to quarantine for 14 days, which effectively quashes any vacationers.

Ducharme said the lodges could open later — say in June — but it probably wouldn’t be economical to open them after July 1.

— Hungry Horse News

Work on the Kootenai Development Impoundment Dam has paused as project officials grapple with travel restrictions and equipment shortfalls related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The dam, built on Rainy Creek, contains asbestos-laden tailings from the former W.R. Grace vermiculite mine. Work to upgrade the barrier began more than a year ago and was expected to take up to four years to complete, according to public documents.

Speaking with the Lincoln County commissioners via phone April 8, Anthony Penfold, a remediation manager with W.R. Grace, said the first phase of the project went well, offering protection of a 100-year flood event. But work on the second phase has halted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

Stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions have added logistical complications, Penfold said. Additionally, the protective equipment workers use at the site is the same employed by healthcare workers, Penfold said.

“One of the major concerns from Grace’s side is that we don’t want to expose people,” Penfold said. “We don’t want to get into a situation where we have people on site and getting exposed.”

The second phase of the project will see the dam expanded to withstand a 500-year flood interval level. That translates into an additional eight-foot high embankment by the existing cofferdam, Penfold said. While work has halted, Penfold told county commissioners that the standard inspection and maintenance activities at the site are ongoing.

— The Western News

Whitefish High School is expected to be adorned with a new outdoor sculpture as part of a student and community collaboration.

Stumptown Art Studio Education Coordinator Charity Flowers and WHS senior Devin Beale presented their plans for a new metal sculpture to the Whitefish School Board. The sculpture would be located along the walking path between the high school and the Center for Sustainability and Entrepreneurship, and features two unisex human heads on either side of the path, connected overhead by metal gears.

The heads are planned be about 6 feet tall with a Plexiglas cover over the top of the head to reveal the inner workings of the structure’s “mind.”

So far the project has raised about $8,000, comprising a $5,000 grant from the Montana Arts Council, $2,000 from the Whitefish Community Foundation, and $1,000 from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. Others in the community have donated time and services to the project as well.

Flowers said the estimated budget for the project is around $15,000, depending on material cost and how much of those materials can be donated.

The idea for the project came during brainstorming sessions for an art project in a WHS conference room, which was completed several years ago. The conference room was decorated with a mural, but the idea of gears churning within a student’s head stuck, Flowers said.

Some fundraising still needs to take place anyway, but she said there are community members willing to step in and help get the project done.

— Whitefish Pilot

As an ongoing project since May 2016, the garden area at K. William Harvey Elementary School in Ronan can finally be completed and transformed into a covered outdoor classroom.

Last week Whole Kids Foundation awarded the school with a $3,000 grant, which along with other various contributions collected over the years, will complete fundraising efforts for the project. The garden, currently a fenced area with 21 raised boxes designed for planting a large variety of fruits and vegetables for the students, will soon have a permanent covered structure added.

The idea for an outdoor classroom space was first devised by now-retired y teacher Carey Swanberg, with the help of Ronan’s previous FoodCorps service member Laura Arvidson. Swanberg had a vision for the garden and over the years different parts of the concept came to fruition.

Joan Graham, Ronan School District’s curriculum director, said Swanberg believed in the project and inspired local resident’s involvement to help make an idea a reality.

“It has definitely been a community project, Carey had spearheaded the fundraising and everybody in the community was very generous,” Graham said. “There’s been lots of helping hands that helped us get to where we are now.”

Although plans are still being made, Simon said it is likely to be a 28 by 20 foot structure complete with benches around the perimeter and built-in storage compartments.

According to Graham, the district hopes to begin building the structure this spring. However it could be delayed depending on the current availability of construction companies due to COVID-19.

— Lake County Leader

Tuesday, April 7, was a banner day for the Bigfork Food Bank, which served 105 families and distributed 11,913 pounds of food. That day was the only day the food bank is open for the month of April due to the coronavirus pandemic whereas it is usually open every Tuesday, except the fifth Tuesday of each month. The food bank permitted customers to pick up the same amount of food they would get under ordinary circumstances and served 31 new families.

The food bank is planning to pick up food this week from the Flathead Food Bank in Kalispell, which recently received more space to serve as a temporary warehouse for food banks across the county.

As of now, the food bank is planning to be open May 5 for distribution. They will continue to prepare pre-packaged boxes of foods for families if need be, but are considering an option where customers could enter the food bank but would be required to wear masks and to wash and sanitize their hands.

Current needs include canned corn, soup, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, crackers, sugar and flour.

Donations of unopened and non-expired food acan be dropped off at the Bigfork Food Bank, located at 7535 Montana 35. Donors are asked to knock on the door and if no one is available, to leave their contributions in the drop box.

— Bigfork Eagle