Looking Back for Jan. 18

A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler.

50 Years Ago

Jan. 18, 1973

The District 44 school board asked the public for a 7.8 mill special levy to raise some $41,000 to complete the new Central junior high physical education building. The board voted to schedule a second special levy election. Last month, voters approved only a small portion of the $51,281 in special funds which the school board sought for the new gym complex. A turnout of about 25% of eligible voters favored, by a handful of votes, the $10,216 high school portion of the levy and turned down the elementary school portion.

40 Years Ago

Jan. 20, 1983

“Computers will become very pervasive,” said Bayliss Cummings, director of the data processing department at Flathead Valley Community College. He predicted that, eventually, some form of computer will be found in nearly every home. “At one time, it was an outrageous idea for every home to have a phone,” he commented. That’s why the college’s computer classes were filled almost before they were announced. Everyone wanted to know how to run the work-saving but mysterious devices.

30 Years Ago

Jan. 21, 1993

James B. Ponek was hired as the first Whitefish city parks manager. The Whitefish City Council approved hiring the Bay City, Oregon, man who was among the final six applicants interviewed for the job. The city received 178 applications for the newly-created, $22,000-a-year position. Ponek, 27, holds a B.S. degree in recreation administration from California State University in Fresno and was most recently the parks and recreation supervisor for the city of Delano, California.

20 Years Ago

Jan. 16, 2003

Friends of Whitefish schools announced that if the two school bonds pass, taxpayers would only have to pay approximately $12 extra a month for upgrades to Central School and Whitefish High School. For Central School, a taxpayer would pay an estimated $6.11 per month. The WHS bond would cost $5.82 per month. Those figures are based on a home with an assessed market value of $100,000.

10 Years Ago

Jan. 16, 2013

The bottom floor of the Summit House at Whitefish Mountain Resort was flooded after a small fire caused a water line to break. Resort spokeswoman Riley Polumbus said they weren’t sure what caused the fire. The blaze started near an incoming water line, damaged a meter box and caused the line to pump water into the building throughout the night. The fire was put out by the spewing water, Polumbus said.