Lake County Year in Review - 2018

Four connected in death of Cassandra Harris

Four people were taken into custody at the Lake County Jail after Cassandra Harris was discovered near McDonald Lake on June 23. She experienced severe injuries, and died at Kalispell Regional Medical Center the following day.

According to court documents, Joseph Conko Parizeau, 23, of Big Arm, pushed Harris out of a moving vehicle in the McDonald Lake area after Harris met up with Parizeau, Donnovan Sherwood, 19, of Ravalli, and Julia Vaile, 18, of Missoula.

A charge against a fourth person, Gale Hendrickx III, of Pablo, was dismissed out of Lake County Justice Court.

As part of a plea agreement reached in November for Sherwood, he received a deferred sentence in exchange for testimony against Parizeau.

Parizeau was scheduled for a jury trial earlier in December, but a plea agreement was also reached, which reduced his negligent homicide charge to criminal endangerment. He is scheduled for sentencing in January.

Vaile is scheduled for a jury trial in January.

Harris is survived by her six-year-old son Carter Coffman, her parents, Will (Jen) Harris, and Pamela (Mark) Clary, and siblings, step-siblings and extended family.

Arlee claims another state basketball title

Arlee’s boys’ basketball team claimed its second consecutive MHSA Class C state championship in Butte on March 3, beating Manhattan Christian, 66-58.

Head coach Zanen Pitts recalled the Warriors’ journey, saying that the players realize that while it can sometimes take one person to win a game, it takes an a team to win a title.

Over the course of the state title game, the team was sick with the flu, oftentimes calling for timeouts so players could regain composure.

Above all, the team worked together, taking care of each other, Pitts said, making sure that they give everything they have on the court so that spectators and supporters that go to watch can “escape the world and have fun.”

County adopts

growth policy

In one of the more talked-about stories of the year, Lake County Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution to adopt an update to the growth policy and density map, on Aug. 21.

Originally, a growth policy was adopted in 2003, with a density map added in 2005.

Only minor amendments were made, which County Commissioner Chairman Gale Decker explained as time-consuming and expensive.

Typically, a density map is an advisory document that helps county officals in the way of planning development. The original document was written as regulatory, and the summer’s update is advisory.

Commissioners explained that changing the document from regulatory to advisory would make it easier to develop parcels.

Five drafts were written between July 2017 and July 2018.

Since the document has been adopted, only one person has applied to the county for change to their property, commissioners confirmed.

Boys & Girls clubhouse opens in Ronan

Hundreds of people attended a ribbon cutting on Nov. 27 at the new Boys & Girls Club of the Flathead Reservation and Lake County in Ronan.

The former Total Home building at 62579 U.S. Highway 93 in Ronan was sold to the organization by former owners Gordon and Audrey Granley.

Aric Cooksley, director of the club, said the project cost about $2.5 million.

Offering about 19,000 square feet, the new location will give youths ages 6-18 more space, compared to the 3,500 square feet at the former location.

Cooksley also announced plans to start forming for a Polson club house on the corner of Second Street and 17th Avenue in 2019.

Bus driver busted

on drug charges

In May, Scott Johnson was arrested on a charge of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

According to the Lake County Sherrif’s Office, Johnson was arrested in Ravalli following a months-long investigation

Johnson’s company, J.C. Bussing, held a long-standing contract with the St. Ignatius School district for transportation, which was terminated by the school board in the summer.

The school district opted to have buses tested for meth, having Water Rights, Inc. out of Missoula conduct testing on a couple of buses and Scott’s office.

Smyth Construction, Inc. of St. Ignatius was awarded a transportation contract for the 2018-19 school year.

Johnson is scheduled in court for an omnibus hearing in February 2019.

Murals in Mission

get facelift

Over the summer, Grand Scaffolding of Billings began installing scaffolding around the mission in St. Ignatius so that murals could be restored.

Custom Platerer out of Boise, Idaho, fixed the crumbling murals, which the Rev. Craig Hightower explained were damaged from earthquakes and age.

A “variety” of funding sources were utilized to pay for the process, which Hightower estimated would cost between $750,000 and $1 million.

Fatal hit-and-run still under investigation

Both the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Montana Highway Patrol are still investigating a fatal hit-and-run that occured in the early morning hours of Dec. 8.

Aiden Finley, 20, of Pablo, was killed when he was struck by a vehicle on U.S. Highway 93, near mile marker 52. While leads have been investigated, officials say there are no suspects. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact LCSO at 406-883-7301, extension 1.

Polson police chief pulls double duty

When Polson city commissioners decided not to renew a two-year contract for City Manager Mark Shrives during a special meeting in late October, he declined to accept a one-year deal presented to him, giving notice the day after the meeting. Polson Police Chief Wade Nash, who was acting city manager when Shrives would be temporarily out of town, accepted an interim position. Along with Shrives’ decision to not renew a contract with the city, a city attorney and engineer resigned.

Linderman roof

sheds winter weight

Linderman Elementary School in Polson rang in the new year with a resolution: to lose winter weight.

On Jan. 1, 2018, a maintenance supervisor alerted Superintendent Rex Weltz that a wall to the gym was bowing.

Following a snowstorm that produced heavy snow, the south non-weight bearing parapet wall of Linderman Elementary collapsed into a locker room Jan. 6. No injuries resulted.

A conversation between the school district and the insurance company has yo-yo’d between administraton and insurance companies over how much money is owed, and what caused the wall to fail.

Linderman Elementary was built in the 1950s and has seen renovations through the years, Weltz said.

School district policies reviewed in

Charlo and Arlee

Following a participation suspension of 20-some student athletes at Charlo High School in the fall, the district policy was under scrutiny when questions arose. During a special meeting, community members and parents asked what certain language in the policy meant when some alleged their children were still punished for little to no involvement but still knew of others obtaining drugs or alcohol during social gatherings among students. Ultimately, the school board decided to review and update the policy for the 2019-2020 schoolyear.

A high school student in Arlee was the center of an investigation in November when the male juvenile allegedly took a gun to school. Administration was alerted when another student shared the information, and an investigation led to the removal of the student with the weapon. Parents and community members expressed outrage when they learned of the incident the following day. District counsel and law enforcement said that because there was no threat to students, faculty or the community, the incident was handled promptly. One result of the incident was that the district’s policy will be further reviewed into the next schoolyear.