History - Looking Back for September 13, 2023
A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler
50 Years Ago
September 13, 1973
Enrollment in Whitefish schools just about followed predicted patterns according to official figures released by Superintendent Russ Giesy. High school enrollment was up by almost 30 students with the latest census showing 495 in WHS. Elementary enrollment was down overall. This year’s count was 131 compared to 101 in the previous year but the second grade was 107 compared to 141 last year. The junior high counts showed a drop of five students since last year, with 481 students.
40 Years Ago
September 15, 1983
After six months and 16 meetings, the District 44 Board of Trustees and the Whitefish Teachers’ Association reached a tentative agreement of a 1983-84 contract. The two sides came to the agreement after two lengthy meetings with a state mediator. The tentative agreement gave the teachers a 6.91% salary increase overall and corresponded with all other agreements reached in the district, said Superintendent LeRoy Key. Mark Duff, chairman of the teachers’ negotiating committee said he would recommend approval of the contract to the teachers.
30 Years Ago
September 16, 1993
Flathead Valley residents were greeted by the first “hard freeze” of the season after a Canadian front pushed through the state, bringing as much as an inch of rain to lower elevations and dumping more than a foot of snow in some areas above 6,000 feet. The temperature fell to 30 degrees in Whitefish, frosting car windows and endangering gardens. “That was more typical for a late autumn type of storm,” said Chris Maier of the National Weather Service. More than four inches of snow fell at Logan Pass in Glacier National Park.
20 Years Ago
September 11, 2003
Affordable housing in Whitefish took another blow when the planning board removed affordable-housing requirements from the Riverside at Whitefish neighborhood plan. The conditions originally allowed 76 additional units of bonus density to offset the costs of providing affordable housing. Open space allotments, in the form of soccer fields, were also among the conditions. “Bonus density” was a point of disagreement for developer Mark Johnson. “We didn’t see it as bonus density. We didn't see that we’ve got anything beyond the underlying zoning.”
10 Years Ago
September 11, 2013
Whitefish Police were warning people to keep an eye on their drinks while at local bars after receiving reports that some beverages may have been spiked with a foreign substance. Police Chief Bill Dial said there had been “unsubstantiated instances” where both men and women felt they were drugged while in Whitefish. Dial said his department was simply taking a “proactive” stance in cautioning people to be vigilant with their drinks while out on the town.