The North Valley Food Bank has come a long way since 1977 when it started up in June Munski-Feenan’s garage, adapting and expanding along with the community it serves. Now it needs a new home, and it’s getting one that will make Munski-Feenan proud.

After moving out of Munski-Feenan’s garage in its infancy, the North Valley Food Bank has been in its current location on East First Street since 1985. While the facility has ably served the community, it is no longer large enough to accommodate the needs of a growing population base, even after multiple additions over the years.

 

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Rivers across Northwest Montana continue to swell after this week’s temperatures spiked 20 degrees above normal, raising concerns about flooding and recreational safety as the bustling summer season approaches.

With local temperatures hovering around 80 degrees, the National Weather Service announced May 9 the Yaak River near Libby could exceed flood stage because of rapid runoff in the Kootenai drainage. The Flathead River at Columbia Falls and the North Fork were also at risk of reaching flood levels over the weekend.

A cold front was expected to arrive next week, which could slow snowmelt in the upper elevations and abate flood problems, but the risk is expected to remain for the next two weeks, according to the NWS.

 

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LIBBY – You wouldn’t expect to find a growing candy-making business in the kitchen behind a bar. But that is exactly what you’ll find at the Lake Koocanusa Marina along Montana Highway 37, just north of Libby. Randy and Randie Burch recently started marketing and selling Nanny’s Cookies and Candies.

The Libby couple is using old family recipes to make everything from chocolate turtles to peanut clusters. Randy said they started the company last year to stay busy during the winter months. They’re now selling their candy in Libby and Eureka.

 

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The Flathead County Board of Adjustment approved a conditional use permit for a major expansion at the Sonju Industrial facility in Kalispell, located on U.S. Highway 93 north of town.

The expansion will include demolishing a residence on the property and building a 19,513-square-foot addition that would house additional machinery, extra workspace, offices and more parking spaces.

 

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Last Saturday, Bree Fuqua departed Kalispell with only a small backpack. She flew south to San Diego, where a pair of relative strangers, an older husband and wife known as “angels,” picked her up. From the city they drove more than an hour into the wild interior of the Mountain Empire to a marked section of fence along the Mexican border. At that point, the angels said farewell.

Then all alone, she looked north toward home, past the soaring mountains, and embarked on one of the great American adventures: hiking the Pacific Crest Trail.

Fuqua, a 31-year-old special education and math teacher at Glacier High School, is pursuing a lifelong dream by attempting to walk 2,650 miles along the PCT. Over the next four months, she plans on following the rugged trail that winds north through California, Oregon and Washington before ending in British Columbia’s Manning Park. Except for a short stretch her sister plans to join, Fuqua is traveling solo.

 

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Plow crews in Glacier National Park are slowly making their way up Going-to-the-Sun Road, although there is no set date for when the route to Logan Pass will be open. As of May 3, the road was open to vehicles as far as Avalanche on the west side and Rising Sun on the east side.

People can hike and bike parts of the road closed to traffic, but park spokesperson Denise Germann said visitors should be prepared “because conditions can change.”

“It might be really nice in the valley, but it can be a lot different up top,” she said.

 

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A major U.S. Highway 93 reconstruction project in west Whitefish is now in full swing, with the end goal of updating antiquated infrastructure, relieving traffic congestion and making the road safer for both drivers and pedestrians.

 

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A panel of four Flathead Republican lawmakers last week gave assessments of the 63rd Legislature, offering mixed reactions on specific issues but mostly agreeing that the session was productive.

 

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