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Covering the Bitterroot Valley – “Where Montana Begins!”
‘The B Established 1985 - Locally owned & independent
Volume XXXIV, Number 5
Casting for Recovery
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Stevi town employees complain about toxic work environment
By Michael Howell
Casting for Recovery (CfR) provides healing outdoor retreats for women with breast cancer, at no cost to the participants. For women who have had surgery or radiation as part of their breast cancer treatment, the gentle motion of fly casting can be good physical therapy for increasing mobility in the arm and upper body. Couple that with the emotional benefits of connecting with nature, and you’ve got powerful medicine.
The Stevensville Town Council voted 3 to 0 last week to override Mayor Brandon Dewey’s latest policy requiring council members to submit future requests for information directly to the mayor rather than through the office staff. Dewey said the routing of information requests through him was a temporary policy being adopted to deal with his employees’ recent complaints about a toxic work environment being created by council members. “It is not my intent to restrict council’s access to information, it’s just how they access that information,” said Dewey. He said it was a temporary measure adopted to place a buffer between the parties until a more permanent solution to the issues between the council and staff could be worked out. Councilor Robin Holcomb took offense, saying that the Mayor’s memo was not a request
but an order stating that they could no longer ask for information from town staff. Councilor Bob Michalson said that when he asked Town Clerk Audree Tribbensee for copies of all correspondence from his mailbox he was told he had to fill out an information request form. He said he talked to other past and present councilors and they had never been required to fill out such a request form. “We should have the same rights as the mayor,” said Michalson. He said that instead of receiving any information he received an email from Dewey stating that the council was creating a toxic work environment amongst the workers. Michalson denied the accusation and said he’d like to know why the mayor would make such an accusation. “To be clear,” said Dewey, “they came to me and made that complaint. I am just relaying it to you.” He said his policy was put in place to keep people happy
while things are worked out. He told Michalson he would have to ask the staff about the hostile work environment that has been created. Town Clerk Audree Tribbensee spoke up, saying that she was not the person who came forward about a hostile work environment. She said that she was new on the job but has been told and read things in the record that indicate serious difficulties between the council and the mayor’s office have been ongoing for several administrations. “People are assuming that I am the one,” she said. Then she said that Michalson had sent her an email request for all correspondence between every councilor and any administrative staff. She said the request had no timeframe or any other parameters, so she emailed back requesting some parameters to the search. “You just said all correspon-
priorities and schedule to do a project at the request of a private landowner. REC would like to see the project done by next summer. “We haven’t done much in the way of private partnership on paving. I think it’s a model worth trying.” said Commission Chair Jeff Burrows. But Burrows also recognized a problem with the request in that the county was currently not taking on any new pavement projects because it can’t keep up the pavement its already got. He said the county would have to pave 12 miles a year just to keep up with pavement maintenance of their current inventory and they are only doing six miles. He said, “We can’t add pavement to our inventory without good cause,” but then, he said, “this request is exceptional.” Complicating the issue was Road Department Administrator John Horat’s concerns about paving one quarter mile of a half
mile section of road. He said it left a quarter mile of gravel road “in the middle of nowhere” that would need to be graded. He said operationally it was not a good idea to pave only half of a section of road. There was discussion about the increased traffic expected in the area once the company builds its proposed 50,000 to 60,000 square foot complex. There was lots of discussion about trying to get other landowners along the road to participate in the cost share. In the end the commissioners decided to approve the deal because of the exceptional circumstances, the expected increase in traffic and associated safety concerns, and the fact that the company provides citizens of the county with a valuable service in terms of providing power infrastructure and providing
Program uses fly fishing, Commissioners agree to nature to help cancer patients pave section of Bell Crossing By Michael Howell
We could say of many Montanans what Norman Maclean, author of “A River Runs Through It,” said about his family, I think, “In my family there was no clear line between fly fishing and religion.” It’s definitely more than just a sport. It can be a very healing event. This is what breast reconstruction surgeon Dr. Benita Walton and professional flyfisher Gwenn Perkins Bogart realized over 22 years ago when they founded Casting for Recovery, a non-profit organization headquartered in Manchester, Vermont, based on an innovative program focusing on improving the quality of life for women with breast cancer.
Casting for Recovery (CfR) provides healing outdoor retreats for women with breast cancer, at no cost to the participants. The retreats offer opportunities for women to find inspiration, discover renewed energy for life, and experience healing connections with other women and nature. The retreats are open to women with breast cancer of all ages, in all stages of treatment and recovery. The healing program is unique. For women who have had surgery or radiation as part of their breast cancer treatment, the gentle motion of fly casting can be good physical therapy for increasing mobility in the arm and upper body. Couple that with the emotional benefits of connecting with nature, and you’ve got powerful medicine.
The organization currently offers 60 retreats across the country, serving 800+ women each year. To date 8,000+ women have been served. CfR relies on the support of more than 1,600 volunteers nationwide, including medical and psychosocial professionals, fly fishing instructors and alumnae. Given that fly fishing has so much to do with it, it’s not surprising that the organization should end up moving its headquarters to Bozeman, Montana as it recently did. Nor is it surprising that the Bitterroot Valley has become the home of its national fundraising event: Cast One for Hope. Peg Miskin of Hamilton See RECOVERY, page 3
By Michael Howell
The Ravalli County Commissioners made an unusual, and perhaps precedent setting, agreement to what was called an “exceptional” request from the Ravalli Electric Cooperative. The County agreed to provide the labor to pave a quarter mile of Bell Crossing Road to the west of the Highway 93 intersection, if the company would pay for the materials. Bell Crossing Road, west of Hwy 93, is currently a gravel road. But REC has purchased land at the intersection with plans for the construction of a large complex at the site and offered to pay for the materials to pave the road if the county would do the work. The cost of materials to pave a quarter mile of road was estimated at about $26,000 to $28,000 (if the cost of top seal was added). The precedent possibly being set is for the County to jump out of its established pavement
See STEVI, page 2
See BELL XING, page 3
Lightning ignites new fires
Jeff Gray of Freestone Fly Shop in Hamilton is one of 17 local guides who donated services for the Cast One for Hope event last year. Sheila Anderson came all the way from Texas to participate.
As of Monday, firefighters were currently working on seven new lightning-caused wildfires on the Bitterroot National Forest. Thanks to quick response by fire crews and aviation resources, all of the fires are small – 1/4 acre in size or less. All of the fires are located south of Darby on the southern end of the Forest. The Tin Cup fire is ¼ acre and is located west of Darby up Tin Cup drainage about one mile from the road. Smoke was visible on Monday from Darby. The six other fires are located on the
West Fork District east of Painted Rocks Lake near Jew Mountain. Eighteen firefighters and two helicopters responded to the fires which are being actively suppressed, under a full suppression strategy. The helicopters assisted with bucket work (water drops) on numerous fires to help control the spread, until firefighters could reach them. All of the fires are burning in remote locations and crews had to hike in or be flown in by helicopter. There were more than 50 confirmed lightning strikes on the southern end of the Forest on
Monday morning. The storm that came through also brought minimal precipitation with most weather stations reporting light rainfall (.02 inches). The lightning-caused Goat Mountain Fire in Idaho’s Frank Church Wilderness was discovered on August 19th. As of Monday, it was 1/10th of an acre and located one mile southeast of Salmon Mountain Lookout. Due to its remote location with no structures threatened, the fire is being allowed to play its natuSee WILDFIRES, page 3
Rockin’ RC Rodeo • Carnival • Exhibits • Fabulous Food • Fun For All
Ravalli County Fair August 29th, 30th, 31st & September 1st