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Latest update of the Jocko Canyon fire

By • Jul 28, 2013
Youpa Stein

Fire Information – Firestone Flats

Cause: Under Investigation

Detected: July 27, 2013

Location: Approximately 5 miles east northeast of Arlee, MT.

Size: 1,388 acres on Saturday, July 27 at 7:00 PM

Jurisdiction: Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribes, Lake County Current Status: Today, Sunday, July 28th, the fire is listed at 0 percent containment. Fire activity was erratic and extreme yesterday resulting in multiple evacuations.

Jocko Canyon evacuations complete for now

By • Jul 27, 2013

Teams on the ground and in the air are working to beat down the as-of-yet officially unnamed Jocko Canyon area fire near Arlee. Lolo National Forest spokesman Boyd Hartwig tells us it stands at 700 acres with Lolo Hotshots on the ground. A single engine air tanker and heavy air tanker is working from above.  The Seeley Lake Ranger district will be closing the Forest Service portion of Jocko road for public safety. Scattered evacuations along Jocko Road are complete for the time being. 

Jock Canyon fire update

By • Jul 27, 2013

Lake County Sheriff's department spokeswoman, Karen Sargent, says 18 homes have been evacuated as a result of the Jocko Canyon fire. None of them - at least to her knowledge - have been lost or damaged.  Also the fire has not yet been officially named. More updates as we get them....

Jocko Canyon Fire

By • Jul 27, 2013
Edward O'Brien

A new wildfire burning in the Jocko Canyon area is throwing up a huge smoke plume easily visible from Missoula. A Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes Division of Fire dispatcher, identifying himself as Buttercup, says law enforcement has blocked roads from the reservation to Seeley Lake. The Jocko Canyon road is now blocked to traffic, as is the St Mary's Lake road. Buttercup says evacuation orders have been issued for homes in the Jocko Canyon.  Early estimates of the fire stood at 500 acres, but Buttercup tells us smoke was laying low making next to impossible to confirm that number.

Homes Saved from Mill Creek Fire

By • Jul 26, 2013
Sally Mauk

Firefighters are feeling a lot better today about the 720-acre Mill Creek fire that broke out yesterday between Frenchtown and Missoula.

Should drugs be legalized and regulated?

By • Jul 26, 2013

A retired Oregon corrections counselor, who also worked as a parole and probation officer, says America's war on drugs is an abject failure.
       Shelley Fox-Loken says states should have the authority to decide whether they want to legalize drugs that are now illegal. She predicts that responsibly legalizing drugs would result in decreased violent crime and drug use rates, while simultaneously  benefiting state coffers.
       Loken is a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of law enforcement officials opposed to the war on drugs.

NCAA announces results of its investigation into UM's athletics department

By • Jul 26, 2013

The results of the NCAA's investigation into the University of Montana athletics department have just been released. Here's a copy of the memo UM president Royce Engstrom released to the campus community today: 

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

New fire breaks out between Frenchtown and Missoula

By • Jul 25, 2013
Sally Mauk

A new  wildfire burning just east of Frenchtown and west of Missoula has grown to over 550 acres and prompted several evacuations. The fire - started by a mower sparking on a rock this afternoon - has forced homeowners between Mill Creek and Fred Lane to evacuate as firefighters attack the blaze from the ground and the air. (see map) So far, there are no reports of homes lost to the fire.

Sister of Sandy Hook victim urges Montanans to support new gun control

By • Jul 25, 2013
Associated Press


    Carlee Soto will never forget December 14th, 2012.

UM looks for ET

By • Jul 23, 2013

NASA recently awarded a 1.125 million dollar grant to researchers at the University of Montana to explore, among other things, whether there is life on other planets.

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