Montana News Roundup: River Accident Kills 2

The bodies of two rafters who died in an accident in the Selway Wilderness Area have been recovered, but the identities of the victims still haven’t been released by the Idaho County Sheriff.

News of the drownings came Saturday, when local authorities were alerted to a Garmin SOS activation that CPR was in progress for one person on the river between Double Drop and Wa-Poots.

     -That’s 19 miles from road access.

A couple of hours later, a text message said a second person that hit the water when a raft flipped was also receiving CPR, but both of the victims had passed before rescuers could reach the remote location.

     -Two Bear Air from Kalispell helped to recover the bodies.

We don’t know the circumstances of the accident, but it comes just weeks after the Forest Service warned of trees and other debris from last summer’s storms presenting additional hazards on the river.

Montana’s First Big 2025 Fire is About Out

The cooler, wetter weather is exactly what firefighters needed to help gain control of the state’s first big fire of the year, with reports they’ve now gotten nearly complete containment of the fire burning in the Big Hole Valley.

The Sawlog Fire, burning northeast of Wisdom, is now 90% contained with total acreage of just over 2000 acres, which is sizable now but will likely be small in comparison to fires later this summer.

READ MORE: Mystery Blaze Starts Montana Fire Season

     🔥-Firefighters are also keeping an eye on the 75-acre Big Creek Fire burning in the mountains 9 miles west of Stevensville.

Community in Shock Over Family Shooting

Kalispell Police will be offering counseling services to the responders who had to deal with the tragic murder-suicide that took the lives of an entire young family over the weekend.

The community remains in shock over the deaths early Sunday morning, where police say 33-year-old Nicholas Olson-Hartley shot his 27-year-old wife, a 6-year-old, and a 7-month-old baby before calling dispatchers and then taking his own life.

Accused Billings Killer Arrested

Yellowstone County authorities say they’ve arrested the suspect wanted in connection with the fatal fire at a Billings trailer park over the weekend.

Sheriff Mike Linder says 32-year-old Justin Honey was located at a Hardin truck stop and is being held on charges of homicide, theft, arson, and tampering with evidence.

Gallatin County Sees No More Measles

Gallatin County health officials say they’ve found no further cases of measles following an outbreak last month, saying there’s no evidence of “community transmission.”

Healthy Gallatin provided that update yesterday, saying the 8 people in the same household who tested positive for measles after traveling out-of-state have completed their quarantine.

What’s Next for Montana Brand?

Montana’s been known as “The Last Best Place”, and we had a chuckle over the “Get Lost in Montana’ campaign a few years back.

Now, the Montana Department of Commerce and Governor Gianforte are ready to announce the state’s new “brand” at the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale this Friday.

We won’t know the details until the unveiling. But the state says the new brand will be used to, quote, “share the stories and character of Montana’s families, businesses, farms, ranches and communities promoting all the Treasure State has to offer.”

The announcement will be made at the Eastern Montana Fairgrounds at 1 pm.

Montana Tuesday Trivia

“Big Sky Country” was Montana’s “brand”, or slogan that tourists saw on our license plates from 1967 through 1975.

Can you name the marketing slogan in 2016?

      🏔️ “The Sky’s the Limit” was announced in April 2016.