LOOKING BACK FOR FEB. 19

A weekly look at past Whitefish Pilot articles, compiled by Daniel McKay.

10 years ago

Feb. 18, 2010

Whitefish Mountain Resort was cracking down on uphill hikers as interest in skinning up the hill continued to grow. The resort was worried about “dangerous behavior related to uphill traffic,” and was looking into limiting the time and areas available to uphill skiers.

20 years ago

Feb. 17, 2000

The town was swept up in the nameless moose that had been limping around Whitefish. A moose, who carried himself with a limp after an accident years before, had been spotted all over town, to the point that the Pilot and Rustic Ridge were sponsoring a Name the Moose contest. The winning name was Forrest Gimp and the moose was relocated to wilder country near Libby.

30 years ago

Feb. 15, 1990

Whitefish Police used one of the oldest tricks in the book to catch a suspect related to 13 burglaries. After the burglar alarm sounded at Whitefish Lake Golf Club, police followed fresh tracks in the snow back to the thief’s mobile home, where they arrested a juvenile who admitted to 13 other burglaries in the past month.

40 years ago

Feb. 14, 1980

Whitefish got a little rowdy during Winter Carnival, leading to 50 arrests by city police. The charges ranged from open containers to drug possession and more. No Canadians were charged, but 80% of the offenses came from University of Missoula students, leading Police Chief George Wartnow to claim “I think we had half the University of Montana in jail.”

50 years ago

Feb. 19, 1970

The city was looking at problems related to the growing popularity of Winter Carnival, namely parking. Crowding from the carnival events was blocking traffic.