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Looking Back: High school participation fee considered

| January 29, 2025 1:00 AM

A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler 


50 Years Ago 

Jan.30, 1975 

Approximately 60 local members of the Brotherhood Railway Carmen of the United States employed by the Burlington Northern took part in the national Wildcat strike. A temporary federal injunction issued by US District Court Judge J.S. Perery brought the workers back to work. The shop craft workers were requesting a two-year contract, a 25% wage increase effective Jan. 1, 1975, and additional benefits. It was reported that the that the existing average wage was $5.62 per hour. 


40 Years Ago 

Jan.31, 1985 

January, which normally is the year's cloudiest month, may have set an all-time record in 1985 for lack of sun. According to Whitefish Climatologist Cliff Harris, Whitefish enjoyed only two and a half hours of sunshine since 4 p.m. Dec. 31. The previous low record was the same time in 1981, when there were only 23 and a half hours of sun. The normal for this time of year is 66 hours of sunshine, which is still one of the lowest in the country, Harris said. 


30 Years Ago 

Jan.26, 1995 

Parents, coaches and residents implored the Whitefish School Board to reconsider its participation fee. “Please, please don't,” said a father of three who spoke of his family struggles to get by every month. “We know it will hurt others a lot more.” Under the participation fee policy, which was set to be implemented in the fall, students would be required to pay $25 per extracurricular activity, up to a maximum of $50 per individual or $100 per family per year. The fees would be in addition to a mandatory one-time $15 activity fee per participant. 


20 Years Ago 

Jan.27, 2005 

Whitefish School bus traveling on the East Only loop was advised against going on the normal route due to an icy road and instead ventured across the railroad tracks. Unbeknownst to the Whitefish District driver, a truck had jackknifed on a downhill portion of the road, blocking forward passage on the road. After the road blockage was discovered, the driver attempted to turn the bus around, according to bus driver procedure that advises against backing up over railroad tracks because metal tracks can be extremely icy. With the gathering crowd and restricted space hampering the turnaround maneuver, the few students on the bus were released into their parents' custody. 


10 Years Ago 

Jan.28, 2015 

Selecting the preliminary design for the new Whitefish City Hall building quickly turned heated. The council decided to reverse direction on the project and council told Mosaic Architecture it wanted designs for a squared-off building more drawings for chamfered, or 45°, entry corner Mosaic Architect Ben Tintinger seemed stunned by the move. He said his firm had already begun work on the next level of designs, based on direction by the council selecting the square design. “We've put so many hours into this and so much hand holding of this process,” Tintinger said. “We're so far beyond the scope of work at this point. I have no confidence that we will ever get to a point where everyone agrees because there are so many different opinions on this.”