Bitterroot Rocked By Montana Mine Plans

Bitterroot residents often disagree, but judging from the mood of the approximately 5-hundred people that attended a public hearing in Hamilton Monday, there's broad agreement that a rare earth elements mine doesn't belong.

The huge turnout yesterday forced Ravalli County commissioners to move to the Events Center at the fairgrounds, where U.S Critical Materials Senior Advisor Scott Osterman tried to explain why the company is enrolled in the new federal "FAST-41" list. He admitted the Utah-based company had been "negligent" in keeping the community apprised of its search for gallium on Sheep Creek on the headwaters of the Bitterroot River. And he denied it was trying to circumvent the usual permitting process.

"We are committed to maintain an environmental, low impact exploration and mitigation program to make sure that the bonding requirements, anything else that's necessary are fully covered. So that no one has to worry about what's happening to the watershed and what's happening to the landscape." - Scott Osterman, U.S. Critical Minerals

However, the public and county commissioners were upset and mistrustful of the assurances. Commissioner Jeff Burrows was especially concerned about road impacts.

"Our roads are in disrepair," Burrows told Osterman. "And if you start talking about somewhere between 30 and 5000 trucks per week coming out of the West Fork, we can't afford that."

"The pollution that could occur here would have an outsized impact on a world-class wild trout fishery, a cultural, ecological, and economic treasure that drives tourism, recreation, and property values. The bedroom is the 7th most fish-rich river in the state of Montana, representing the outstanding quality of our river and fish populations." - Heather Barber, CEO, Bitterroot Water Partnership

Burrows also felt slighted by the lack of information.

"I guess I feel I'm a little disappointed that we haven't been reached out to earlier, that we're now we're looking at going on the fast track program. How can we work with you in the community to reduce some of these impacts here? I am leaning towards urging our representatives to deny or poll or oppose the fast forward to one."

     📑 Commissioners unanimously approved the letter, asking Montana's Congressional delegation to take the mine off the list.

Missoula measles report

We haven't heard a lot about measles in recent months, but there are still cases being tracked.

Montana DPHHS reports there were two recent cases in Gallatin County, reported on November 23rd and 30th. Those are the first since September, with the Bozeman area continuing to have a wide lead in the number of cases reported, at 21.

Now, Missoula Public Health is saying it was notified that a person infected with measles visited Missoula on Saturday, November 22nd. That announcement, just made this morning, says no positive cases have been confirmed in Missoula. But they released a list of places the infected person stopped at, including TJ Maxx, Scheels, and Old Chicago Pizza from 11 am to 4 in the afternoon. The advisory is for people who may have been at those locations at the same time to check their vaccination status and monitor for symptoms.

Tim Montana does more than "talk" turkey

Tom O'Neill reports a little star power and a lot of turkey made a big difference for the hungry in Butte this past weekend.

A break from the snow on Wednesday

An early evening snowstorm was catching drivers off guard in Western Montana Monday night, and although there wasn't much snow, what did fall was EXTREMELY slick. In fact, Missoula Police even had to issue an emergency travel advisory as traffic on the hills got tangled by spinning cars and slide-offs. Driving in the Northern Bitterroot and also west on I-90 over Lookout Pass was also snow-packed and very icy. At one point, an accident was blocking traffic and forcing some detours near Alberton.

High winds near Livingston were causing problems for trucks, and travel along the Front was hazardous because of blowing and drifting snow.

     By Tuesday morning, most roads had improved considerably.

Check your lottery numbers

We don't know WHERE the ticket was sold, but we do know the number, as Montana Lottery officials release the number of the first winning tickets in this fall's "Montana Millionaire" game.

    🙌🏻  The "Quarter Million Monday" winning number is 13-12-08, and is worth $250,000.