Local briefs: Free leaf pickup underway in Polson

Every Monday in November the city of Polson Streets Departments will be offering free pickup of leaves that have been placed in biodegradable leaf bags. Leaves placed in plastic bags will not be picked up. Please place biodegradable leaf bags for pick up at the curbside.

This service is provided by the city to help residents as they clean up and maintain their properties. The change to biodegradable leaf bags is an effort to increase the efficiency of the fall leaf cleanup by reducing the cost in working hours for city employees. It will also eliminate the use of landfill by allowing the decomposed leaves and bags to be reused to replenish topsoil and mulch on future city projects.

Biodegradable leaf bags are available for purchase at local retail stores. Contact the Street Department at 406-883-8202 or streets@cityofpolson.com for more information.

Free Thanksgiving supplies available Nov. 10

Lake County Community Support will be giving away bags of Thanksgiving dinner supplies at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Ronan on Tues., Nov. 10, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. or until supplies run out. Bags include all the fixings to augment your turkey.

Help Polson woman feed local families

Nancy Hausermann of Polson has used close to $5,000, including her own money and donations, toward helping feed families and needs help as she puts together care packages of food for families that may be quarantined over the holidays.

She is seeking donations of food to go into baskets or monetary support.

Items needed include canned pumpkin, canned sweet potatoes, corn, green beans, cream of mushroom soup, fried onions, stuffing mix, canned cranberries, canned milk, pie crust, pudding mixes, etc.

Those interested in donating may message Hausermann on Facebook or call her at 406-871-9784.

Free Excel and QuickBooks workshops on the horizon

Lake County Community Development Corporation (LCCDC) is offering a free workshop, “Microsoft Excel Essentials Part II.” Originally scheduled for Nov. 11, the workshop has been rescheduled for 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m Wednesday, Nov. 16, at the Boys and Girls Club in Ronan. In-person seating is limited to 10, with four additional seats available via Zoom. Register at lccdc.ecenterdirect.com/events or call 676-5901. Other upcoming workshops include QuickBooks I, Nov. 18, and QuickBooks II, Dec. 2, at the Boys and Girls Club.

Forest Service invites public feedback on wildfire project

The Forest Service invites the public to provide feedback on the Westside Bypass Wildfire Resiliency Project on the Seeley Lake Ranger District located northwest of Highway 83 and Seeley Lake in Missoula County. The project focuses on addressing hazardous forest fuel and vegetation conditions that contribute to an increased risk of a severe wildfire on national forest lands.

The project proposes about 2,700 acres of commercial and non-commercial vegetation management activities, including pile burning, jackpot burning and under burning to address the fuel loading and forest health concerns within the project area. These activities are mostly thinning or improvement harvests to increase spacing between trees and promote healthy ponderosa pine, western larch, Douglas-fir, and a diversity of age classes of lodgepole pine.

Written comment for the 30-day scoping period should be submitted to Elizabeth.Tichner@usda.gov by Dec. 2. Include ‘Westside Bypass Wildfire Resiliency’ in the subject line. Learn more about the project by visiting the Lolo National Forest project page at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/lolo/landmanagement/projects. You may also contact Elizabeth Tichner, project team lead, at Elizabeth.Tichner@usda.gov or call 304-282-4064.

New missing indigenous persons reporting website launched

A new website launched last week by Blackfeet Community College in Browning allows families and friends to report a missing person online, rather than go directly to law enforcement. The new reporting portal, www.mmipmt.com, is intended to streamline reporting efforts to help locate missing individuals.

The initial rollout of the website will be within the Browning area with remaining tribal communities in Montana to be added to the network within the next year.

Once a contact information form is submitted on the website, an automatic notice will be sent to local tribal law enforcement. Volunteers will provide support to the missing person’s family while working with law enforcement. All data collected through the website will be shared with appropriate law enforcement entities including tribal, county, state, and federal.

BCC will host a virtual concert online at 7 p.m. Saturday to mark the launch of the Missing Indigenous Persons reporting portal. The public is invited to join. Visit www.mmipmt.com for more information about the database, reporting portal, and details about the upcoming concert.