Hello and welcome to News Now, I’m your host Taylor Inman. We’re going over the week’s biggest headlines and what’s coming up for northwest Montana.

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State biologists are shining a light on Northwest Montana’s black bears as part of a multiyear effort to improve their understanding of the species’ habitat and population size.

In May, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks researchers began the second season of the black bear study, using a combination of barbed wire hair corrals west of Kalispell and location tracking collars. Experts plan to use the findings to better inform wildlife management …

Hello and welcome to News Now, I’m your host Taylor Inman. We’re going over the week’s biggest headlines and what’s coming up for northwest Montana.

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State biologists are shining a light on Northwest Montana’s black bears as part of a multiyear effort to improve their understanding of the species’ habitat and population size.

In May, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks researchers began the second season of the black bear study, using a combination of barbed wire hair corrals west of Kalispell and location tracking collars. Experts plan to use the findings to better inform wildlife management practices — the last time the state surveyed the black bear population was in 2011.

Data helps inform practices, he said. And the information collected could lead to adjusting harvest quotas. It’s not any single predator, but a contribution of factors, including habitat and climate changes. That’s according to Pat Tabor, vice chair of the state Fish and Wildlife Commission. He said black bears play a big role in early spring ungulate killings.

The new study, once completed, will confirm or deny that perception. Up until this project, the state of Montana has been functioning off population estimates from 2011, published by biologists Richard Mace and Tonya Chilton-Radandt. They estimated the mean population at 13,307 black bears statewide.

Black bear harvest numbers have increased in recent years, which was one of the main drivers for initiating the project. Officials said the state wildlife agency hopes to understand the connection between black bear harvest and population change over time.

In 2022, counting both spring and fall hunts, a total of 2,159 bears were harvested with 749 coming from Region 1, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. In 2021, the state saw 1,598 bears harvested with 504 taken in Region 1. In 2020, the state total was 1,457 bears. Of those, 562 came from Region 1.

THE STUDY is looking at five distinct black bear sampling regions dispersed throughout the state. Each year, researchers study the population of bears in one of those ecoregions. Once they have sampled each region once, they will start the process over again.

Last year, the study focused on the western ecoregion. Next year, research will be in the central ecoregion, sampling bears in the Little Belt Mountain Range.

The current monitoring program, according to the state wildlife agency, will help officials gain an accurate understanding of the black bear population while accounting for regional differences. The results will also give officials a better understanding of how hunter harvest, and habitat quality and availability affect the overall population.

That then should aid the state in managing the animal to ensure that the population remains stable.

The hair corral sites are placed west of Kalispell, surrounded by bright orange warning signs. Members of the public are advised to stay out of those areas, including trapping locations for GPS collars, due to increased safety risks such as an increased presence of both barbs and bears.

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Twentieth Judicial District Judge Molly Owen set a sentencing date of Sept. 18 for a Bigfork man accused of shooting three people last year, killing one of them.

50-year-old Matthew Thomas Vitek entered a plea of guilty in district court at Polson on July 31 to felony charges of deliberate homicide and two counts of attempted deliberate homicide.

The charges each carry a maximum 100-year prison sentence, plus 10 years for a weapons enhancement. However, Vitek entered his guilty plea as part of a plea agreement in which prosecutors agreed to drop the weapons enhancement charge.

The agreement also calls for a joint recommendation of 100 years in the Montana State Prison with a 30-year parole restriction on each count to run concurrently. The judge is not bound by the agreement.

According to court records, on Dec. 10, 2023, deputies with Lake and Flathead County sheriff’s offices responded to multiple reports of shots fired on Cayuse Lane in Ferndale. Flathead County deputies were first on scene.

56-year-old Tammi Jordan had been shot in the head. The other two victims had suffered gunshot wounds to their chests. All three were transported to Logan Health in Kalispell, where Jordan was pronounced dead. The other two victims were listed in stable condition the following morning.

Vitek was arrested at the scene.

Surveillance cameras “captured the entire event,” according to court documents. The video shows Jordan exiting her home and yelling to one of the other two victims for help. The person who came to help ran toward Jordan with a two-by-four in her hands as Vitek was allegedly baiting her.

Vitek can be heard saying, “You are all going to die,” according to court documents. He then allegedly yells, “Alright, here we go. We’re going to have some fun.”

Vitek can be seen shooting two of the victims in the chest before turning the gun on Jordan, according to court documents. Vitek allegedly kept berating the victims before stomping on two of their heads.

An autopsy determined that Jordan’s “cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death was homicide.”

Vitek remains in the Lake County Jail with bail set at $3 million.

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Kalispell is purchasing equipment to treat forever chemicals detected at the Grandview Wells site.

The city is contracting with WaterSurplus, an Illinois-based water quality treatment service, to install a pressurized filtration system that binds and removes contaminants from the water. Kalispell Public Works Director Susie Turner said that system can treat up to 2,000 gallons per minute.

She described it as a short-term solution that will avoid shutting the wells down.

In 2023, officials detected forever chemicals, also known as PFAS, at the two Grandview Wells located near the Flathead Valley Community College, a residential community and a park. Forever chemicals also were detected in the Armory and Old School wells, but the Grandview location contained levels above the Environmental Protection Agency’s established limit.

Kalispell is one of two communities in Montana to detect forever chemicals in the drinking water supply. The other is Hamilton.

Forever chemicals have been widely used since the 1940s and contain compounds that break down slowly, according to the EPA. The chemicals can be found in non-stick cookware, waterproof clothing, food packaging and other commercial and industrial use products.

Ingestion of forever chemicals has led to adverse effects to reproductive health, child development and increased risk to some cancers.

In April, the EPA set a limit on the concentration of PFAS present in drinking water at 4 parts per trillion.

Turner said that the discovery of the forever chemicals at the Grandview Wells site came as a surprise, but further sampling was needed to determine which well was the source.

Sampling was performed on each well in March. One well at the Grandview site held low PFAS levels while the second tested at more than three times the EPA limit at 13 parts per trillion.

In the latest round of sampling, conducted in July, the same well tested at about 8 parts per trillion.

In June, Kalispell City Council agreed to move ahead with short term efforts to treat the Grandview Wells site. In an update to residents earlier this week, officials said that they hoped to see equipment installed and operational by the end of the month.

WHILE THE most recent round of samples are set to be released in the coming days, Turner said the second well at the Grandview site tested at 6 or 8 parts per trillion.

Turner said the fluctuations in sample results could be from where the well water is being pulled.

The Armory Well site also contains PFAS, but at levels below the EPA limit. Turner said that consistent levels of PFAS have been detected in that well since March 2022.

Turner speculated that the existence of the chemicals in the well could have originated from PFAS seeping into the ground from a now-defunct armory that sat nearby.

While Turner wants to eventually replace the wells, she projected it would take over two years.

Replacing the contaminated wells likely will involve a lengthy process of testing well sites, sampling water, drilling and construction. Extended wait times for equipment could also affect the timeline, she said.

Because of the demand for water, officials are unable to shut down the Grandview Wells, Turner said.

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and Montana Department of Environmental Quality are providing grants funded by the federal government to the city, Tuner said.

A city memo stated that $95,000 in funding has been secured, but an additional $10.8 million is pending from the Small Systems Emerging Contaminant Grant and Emerging Contaminant SRF Forgiveness loan.

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