City donates $37,000 to senior center
By Luke Ulatowski
The Deer Lodge City Council voted to gift the Powell County Senior Citizens Center $37,000 it gained from the state through a land trade at a meeting on March 18.
In December, the Montana Board of Investments (BOI) set its sights on 11 state-owned acres of land south of town in Deer Lodge to use for the development of workforce housing for Montana State Prison employees. This was to comply with House Bill 819, which allocated $12 million to BOI specifically to provide housing for employees of state-owned facilities.
That land already contained a well owned by the city. Deciding to pursue the development of further wells on the land, the city council opted to trade BOI a seven-acre parcel directly east of Jaycee Park for it. In February, that seven-acre parcel was appraised at approximately $167,000, while the state’s 11 acres were appraised at approximately $130,000. The land exchange proceeded, leaving the city with a sudden excess of $37,000 in funds. The Deer Lodge Finance Committee swiftly recommended donating the funds to the Powell County Senior Citizens Center.
The center reorganized its board and temporarily closed in May last year due to financial and staffing issues. Senior center board president Greg Larkins, who is now a city councilmember as of January, cited a misconception that COVID-era American Rescue Plan Act funds were funding all of the center’s Meals on Wheels meals as a major contributor, as the center does not refuse meals to seniors who do not pay for the service.
“That simply was not true,” Larkins said at the March 18 council meeting. “Our revenue went to about 5% on our Meals on Wheels program.”
The facility’s two-month closure took place when bankruptcy was a possibility. The closure, according to Larkins, led to an executive director at the center being laid off. Larkins took
See City page 8
The Deer Lodge City Council voted to gift the Powell County Senior Citizens Center $37,000 it gained from the state through a land trade at a meeting on March 18.
In December, the Montana Board of Investments (BOI) set its sights on 11 state-owned acres of land south of town in Deer Lodge to use for the development of workforce housing for Montana State Prison employees. This was to comply with House Bill 819, which allocated $12 million to BOI specifically to provide housing for employees of state-owned facilities.
That land already contained a well owned by the city. Deciding to pursue the development of further wells on the land, the city council opted to trade BOI a seven-acre parcel directly east of Jaycee Park for it. In February, that seven-acre parcel was appraised at approximately $167,000, while the state’s 11 acres were appraised at approximately $130,000. The land exchange proceeded, leaving the city with a sudden excess of $37,000 in funds. The Deer Lodge Finance Committee swiftly recommended donating the funds to the Powell County Senior Citizens Center.
The center reorganized its board and temporarily closed in May last year due to financial and staffing issues. Senior center board president Greg Larkins, who is now a city councilmember as of January, cited a misconception that COVID-era American Rescue Plan Act funds were funding all of the center’s Meals on Wheels meals as a major contributor, as the center does not refuse meals to seniors who do not pay for the service.
“That simply was not true,” Larkins said at the March 18 council meeting. “Our revenue went to about 5% on our Meals on Wheels program.”
The facility’s two-month closure took place when bankruptcy was a possibility. The closure, according to Larkins, led to an executive director at the center being laid off. Larkins took
See City page 8
1st Security president talks scamsBy Luke Ulatowski
First Security Bank of Deer Lodge President Tom Christnacht warned of bank and social media scams as the guest speaker at a Montana Commissioner of Securities and Insurance (CSI) “Protecting the Big Sky” presentation on Thursday. Held at the Powell County Community Center, the presentation was only one stop on a CSI tour meant to address rising fraud in Montana and nationwide. CSI Investor Education Coordinator Blair Stapleton reported that scams and fraud cost Americans more than $12 billion in losses in 2023. Seniors were hit the hardest, with over $3.4 billion in losses for those over 60 that year. Christnacht primarily highlighted fake sales on social media, such as on the Facebook Marketplace. The items lifted often have prices that are too good to be true and are listed in several different towns at once. The seller’s profiles often indicate they do not live in the town they are advertising in. Christnacht recalled one of his customers received a message falsely stating her social security number had been compromised and that she had to call a certain number to resolve the issue. The fraudster on the other line led her to the bank on speakerphone. There, she handed Christnacht a note asking him to wire all of her money except for $500 to a Wells Fargo bank account outside of the country. See Scams page 10 |
Favorite cookies . . .Girl Scouts Troop #3708, consisting of Olivia Pierce, Chloe Pritchard, Josie Martin and Charlotte Ridgeway, sells cookies to Roberta Curran outside Valley Foods IGA during the troop’s very first time selling cookies on Friday. The new troop formed in January. Photo by Luke Ulatowski
Particle board plant closure impacts sawmillBy Luke Ulatowski
The closure of the Roseburg Forest Products particleboard plant in Missoula will have an impact on all sawmills in Montana, Sun Mountain Lumber owner Sherm Anderson said. The plant was initially built in 1969 and acquired by Roseburg in 2003. The plant provides sawmills across the state a place to sell leftover sawdust and shavings. At the plant, those are combined with resin and heated to create particleboard, a composite wood used for shelving, storage and countertops that Roseburg sells. Roseburg will shut down the plant on May 22 as part of a plan to exit the particleboard business and focus on other products. It will stop accepting shavings and sawdust a month earlier. The plant has 150 employees. “That [closure] affects all mills that are left in Montana, as well as some from Idaho, too,” Anderson said. “If you can’t get rid of your byproducts, you can’t run, because you can’t just continue to pile them up and do nothing with them.” Roseburg’s plant is the only particleboard plant in Montana. Anderson identifies five sawmills currently running in Montana, including Sun Mountain Lumber and R-Y Timber in Livingston, the latter of which was acquired by Sun Mountain Lumber in January. Another sawmill, Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake, announced it was shutting down after 75 years on Thursday. Sun Mountain Lumber sends 10 to 12 truckloads of wood byproducts out of Deer Lodge every day. While the shavings and sawdust go to Roseburg’s plant, the chips and bark go to a producer in Rexburg, Idaho, which is also in talks to begin taking R-Y Timber’s chips and bark. Sun Mountain Lumber is “still looking for a home” for its shavings and sawdust. “Like everybody right now, we’re scrambling to get locations for byproducts, but at the same time, a lot of the reason why these mills are See Mill page 2 |
Veterans home seeks to fill trustee seat
By Luke Ulatowski
The Southwest Montana Veterans Home Foundation is looking to fill a vacant board trustee seat with a veteran from Powell County as it also aims to raise awareness of the Butte veterans nursing home at an informational event on Monday.
In 2009, then-Gov. Brian Schweitzer established a site selection committee for a planned $10 million state veterans nursing home for the six-county Southwest Montana region that includes Powell County. The committee contained one representative from each of the six counties along with Deer Lodge veteran Dave Williamson, representing Montana’s Veterans Affairs division.
After members of the committee made their cases as to why each respective county should have been the location of the nursing home, in 2010 they ultimately selected Butte, where rancher and rodeo announcer Don Harrington would donate the necessitated 10 acres of land required by the state.
A long process toward breaking ground followed. Williamson stated it took seven years for the facility to get high enough on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ priority list for construction to begin. A foundation for supporting the project, now chaired by Williamson,
See Seat page 10
The Southwest Montana Veterans Home Foundation is looking to fill a vacant board trustee seat with a veteran from Powell County as it also aims to raise awareness of the Butte veterans nursing home at an informational event on Monday.
In 2009, then-Gov. Brian Schweitzer established a site selection committee for a planned $10 million state veterans nursing home for the six-county Southwest Montana region that includes Powell County. The committee contained one representative from each of the six counties along with Deer Lodge veteran Dave Williamson, representing Montana’s Veterans Affairs division.
After members of the committee made their cases as to why each respective county should have been the location of the nursing home, in 2010 they ultimately selected Butte, where rancher and rodeo announcer Don Harrington would donate the necessitated 10 acres of land required by the state.
A long process toward breaking ground followed. Williamson stated it took seven years for the facility to get high enough on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ priority list for construction to begin. A foundation for supporting the project, now chaired by Williamson,
See Seat page 10
SSP, P-Burg papers to consolidate
By Peggy Kerr
Next week, subscribers of the Silver State Post and the Philipsburg Mail will be perusing a much larger paper as the two newspapers will be consolidating, according to Jesse Mullen, co-owner of Mullen Newspaper Company, based in Deer Lodge.
“This will reduce the print costs, expenses which have tripled in the last 10 years,” he said.The number of community newspapers
See Consolidate page 10
Next week, subscribers of the Silver State Post and the Philipsburg Mail will be perusing a much larger paper as the two newspapers will be consolidating, according to Jesse Mullen, co-owner of Mullen Newspaper Company, based in Deer Lodge.
“This will reduce the print costs, expenses which have tripled in the last 10 years,” he said.The number of community newspapers
See Consolidate page 10