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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Hunter Boyle and Ellison Graham
Elks Hoop Shoot champions Hunter Boyle and Ellison Graham are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Weeks.
The honors come after they topped all shooters at the Nov. 4 Elks Hoop Shoot at the Maroon Activities Center. They will represent the Mining City at the District Competition Jan. 13 in Dillon.
The 8-year-old Boyle takes home the boys’ award after leading all shooters by making 21 of 25 shots. He won the boys’ 8-9 division title.
Boyle is a third grader at Butte Central. As a second grader, he played on a fourth-grade team for the Team UpTop Basketball Club. Even though he was undersized and younger than his teammates and opponents, Boyle played with a fearless style. He could score from inside and out.
Graham, who just turned 13 on Veterans Day, made 20 out of 25 shots to win the girls’ 12-13 division. Graham is a seventh grader at East Middle School.
Graham, who moved to Butte with her family a little more than a year ago, is also old hat to winning Hoop Shoots. She is now 5 for 5 in winning local competitions, shooting in Great Falls and now Butte.
In 2021, Graham won a national championship in Chicago. She placed fourth in 2022.
Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warranty, teamed up with the ButteCast to honor the finest athletes from the Mining City in an effort to encourage more children to get up, get out and try all kinds of sports and activities.
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KC basketball schedule
Following is the schedule for the Knights of Columbus Athletic Club’s four-man basketball league for the week of Nov. 13.
This is the first part of the fall season-ending tournament. The full bracket for the double-loss tournament will be posted in the Felix Madrazo Gym.
The winter league will begin Monday, Nov. 27.
Monday
7 p.m. — Hoopin Hooligans vs. Usual Suspects
8 p.m. — Hoopin Heathens vs. Washington Generals
9 p.m. — Parish vs. BaerTuesday
7 p.m. — Lovshin vs. Winner Monday 7 p.m.
8 p.m. — ButteSports vs .Winner Monday 8 p.m.
9 p.m. — Logan’s vs. Turbo
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Murray, Fehr, Holmes, Adams run to Veterans Day Race victories
The Veterans Day Race has turned into the Nicole Murray Invitational.
At Saturday’s 86th running of the Veterans Day Race in Butte, Murray, 53, claimed the female overall title for the seventh straight year. (Complete results)
She finished the 5-mile course in 33 minutes, 22.1 seconds for her 17th overall title in the storied race. Murray once again took home the Mary Whelan First-Place Trophy. That award was named after the winner of the first open division female race in 1976.
The victory means Murray has now run to a win on three different Veterans Day courses.
This year, the 5-mile race included two loops around the 2.5-mile race course. The change was made because of safety complaints.
Julie Clifford of Round Mountain, Nevada, placed second at 33:22, finishing one second ahead of Butte’s Michele Bazzanella.
Anaconda’s Spencer Fehr won the men’s title with a blistering time of 29:23. He beat second-place John Kirtley by 18 seconds. Fehr won the C. Owen Smithers First-Place Trophy, which was named after one of the co-founders of the event.
Rowen Sherbo placed third at 31:15.
James Holmes, 17, of Butte was the fastest male in the 2.5-mile race. He finished the course in 16:45. Fellow Butte Central runner Jim Bradshaw, also 17, took second in 16:59. Clancy’s Henry Sweeney, 16, placed third at 17:17.
Kherington Adams, a 13-year-old Butte Central eighth grader, was the fastest female in the shorter race. She finished in 19:50. Butte’s Suzie Kaluza, 64, took second at 20:57, and Meg Bradshaw, 43, placed third at 25:26.
Adams was awarded the Liza Merrifield Trophy, which was named after the first winner of the junior high race in 1973.
Connor Kachmarik, who won the 14-and-under male division in the 2.5mie race, took home the Martin Kearney Trophy, which was named after the 1940 winner and longtime race co-chairman.
Veteran Stephen Allen was presented with the John Wulf Lifetime Achievement Award.
In all, 72 runners and walkers completed the race on the breezy, cool Saturday in Butte.
Montana’s oldest road race was created in 1934 by two World War I veterans, C. Owen Smithers and Charlie McAuliffe. Since then, the race has been held every Veterans Day (originally called Armistice Day) except during the World War II years between 1942-45. The event is one of the oldest races held annually in the west.
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Those so-called ‘watchdogs’ are just being responsible citizens
A free and open government needs real transparency if it is going to survive.
That transparency is also mandated in Montana law.
Yet, here we are fighting to make sure our local government is open when it comes to talk of Superfund cleanup in Butte, and then some.
The argument from those who oppose this transparency is basically, “We’re smart and you’re not. So, trust us.”
Well, excuse me if I side with the group that would rather peek behind the curtain instead of simply taking the word of the Environmental Protection Agency, British Petroleum/ARCO and the chief executive.
Those “watchdogs” are merely acting within their rights as citizens, yet they have been criticized, attacked and slandered.
In Montana, all meetings of public or governmental bodies, boards, bureaus, commissions, agencies of the state, or any political subdivision of the state or organizations or agencies supported in whole or part by public funds or expending public fund, including the supreme court, must be open to the public.
That is pretty simple and straight forward, but still seems to be so confusing for some.
When some refer to meetings that were supposed to be open to the public — but were not — as “secret meetings,” our chief executive compares them to Donald Trump shouting “fake news.”
Maybe we should just call it “alternative transparency.”
Whatever you call it, Montana law just might have been broken by the repository siting committee charged with finding a dumping spot for about 800,000 cubic yards of toxic waste from the Consent Decree cleanup in the center of town.
That committee includs members of the Council of Commissioners, ARCO, Butte-Silver Bow and the members of the public, and not one of the committee meetings was open.
So, the public had no idea that they were planning to dump that toxic waste in the old Dublin Gulch neighborhood and too close to homes in Centerville and Corktown.
We stumbled upon this plan by accident when my dad saw the chief executive looking at the Gulch. He didn’t like the answer when the chief executive told him that they were “just going to move some dirt around and fill some holes.”
That was the first time in a half a century that any official took interest in the Dublin Gulch, so we started to dig around a little. That digging led to the second time in the last four years in which a Butte neighborhood was up in arms about dumping plans. The first was near Timber Butte in early 2020.
By blowing the top off the most recent secret plan, we saved the Dublin Gulch from being buried forever, yet we still have to fight to keep the waste away from homes. We have to convince them that the Dublin Gulch is bigger than what they have marked on the map, too.
The transparency that was forced by some columns written by yours truly turned the attention to the Berkeley Pit as a better, more logical dumping site. It also got the chief executive to finally talk about transparency.
Three weeks ago, we were told the Pit was off limits. Now we are told they have been talking about it for some time. Of course, there is no record of any of those conversations.
You see, transparency is more than just empty promises and words in a letter.
Another transparency issue centers on leaving waste in place during the cleanup. They call it grey fill, while others call it “dirty dirt” because it is contaminated.
When people ask about this “dirty dirt,” which includes much higher levels of contamination left in place than other Superfund cleanups have received, they are summarily dismissed.
We are told that we just don’t get it.
At the Oct. 11 Council of Commissioners committee of the whole meeting, a former employee at the Department of Environmental Quality spoke out in opposition of a resolution demanding transparency and citizen involvement.
“What role does the public actually have?” the former employee asked the commissioners. “How many people want to go to these meetings and argue points of hydrogeology or points of engineering.”
Translation: “We’re smart and you’re not. So, trust us.”
The right to open meetings doesn’t necessarily mean the right to participate in those meetings. People were asking merely to exercise their right to observe the meetings because we are the ones who have to live with this cleanup.
Three weeks after those comments, that transparency resolution was killed in a tragic comedy of confusion during a meeting of the Council of Commissioners.
Even though it failed, that resolution introduced by Commissioner Jim Fisher led to at least a little more transparency. It led to an EPA meeting in Butte, and it led to presentations to the Council of Commissioners by BP/ARCO and the National Resource Damage Program.
More importantly, it exposed the lack of transparency in the process.
Still, the attacks and condescending dismissals continue.
In a guest editorial in The Montana Standard this week, a board member of the Citizens Technical Environmental Committee questioned the motives of the “watchdogs” of Superfund. He actually said “watchdogs” as if that was a bad thing.
Do these inquisitive citizens have to present their motive to participate in government decisions? Or should just caring about the environment they live in be enough?
It is fair, however, to question the motives of a CTEC board member who is questioning citizens for trying to participate in government. The CTEC is supposed to explain those complicated answers to the public, not question the audacity of the public for asking the questions in the first place.
The thing the writer, former DEQ employee, the chief executive, the EPA and ARCO are missing here is the good that could have come out of transparency in this process. It could have been good for them because openness benefits everyone without something to hide.
They want to just tell us that they think grey fill is OK to use, even if the NRDP decided otherwise in the highly-transparent cleaning up the Parrot Tailings. Or they just tell us that the waste-in-place plan was part of the Consent Decree — that complex 1,400-page document devised in secrecy and unveiled just a few days before it was signed in 2020.
I am not convinced that it was.
These experts need to tell the patronized public why the “dirty dirt” is OK to live with. They need to tell us why Butte should be fine with higher toxic levels than the rest of the free world.
They need to explain the points of hydrogeology and points of engineering that prove that this “dirty dirt” is safe, if it is in fact safe.
The irony here is thicker than the arrogance. If the waste-in-place plan really was safe, then we would have all been convinced of that by attending or reading about open meetings.
Transparency could have stopped the headaches caused by the “watchdogs” before they even began.
But those meetings, until recently, were all closed, so now we have no factual basis by which we can trust them.
All we know is what they are not telling us, and that right there tells us all we need to know.
— Bill Foley, who is running to be the next chief executive of Butte-Silver Bow, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74. Listen to the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
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Podcast No. 145: Col. Amy Klima
She only stands 5 feet, ½ inch, but Butte native Col. Amy Klima is a very big deal.
On Sunday, Col. Klima became the first female commander to oversee the 17th Sustainment Brigade of the Nevada Army National Guard. That amounts to more than two-thirds of the Nevada Army National Guard’s 3,350 soldiers.
Col. Klima, though, would rather be referred to the “shortest commander” instead of the first female commander.”
Either way, this promotion is something that Col. Klima never would have dreamed of when she grew up in a trailer park on Butte’s lower west side. She attended McKinley Elementary School through fifth grade, and then attended West Elementary for a year after McKinley closed.
Col. Klima graduated from Butte High School in June of 1993. That same month, she boarded a flight leaving Butte for the National Guard.
She said she was not prepared for bootcamp, but still pulled it off. She then rose through the ranks of the Army National Guard, working most of that time in Nevada.
The 17th Sustainment Brigade’s primary mission is to provide logistical and sustainment support to enable the readiness and capabilities of unites withing the Nevada National Guard, including supply, maintenance, transpiration and other vital logistical functions.
On Nov. 18, the brigade will be part of security planning for a Formula 1 race in Las Vegas. It will do the same for New Year’s Eve in Vegas and the Super Bowl in February.
When she spoke at the ceremony for her promotion Sunday, Col. Klima started off with a short joke. She says she has to.
Listen in to this podcast as Col. Klima talks about growing up in Butte. Listen as she talks about her love of McKinley and how she and Eddie Sullivan would sneak out of Mr. Sullivan’s study hall to buy doughnuts.
Listen as she talks about joining the National Guard and working her way up through the ranks.
Today’s podcast is presented by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.
Courtesy photos of Col. Klima show her when she first joined the National Guard, at left, and today.
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Podcast No. 144: Ryan Busse
Ryan Busse is a Democratic candidate for governor in Montana.
He threw his hat into the ring to take on incumbent Greg Gianforte earlier this fall.
For more than a quarter of a century, the Kansas native has lived in the Kalispell area. For most of that time, he was working as an executive in the firearm industry.
Seeing so many school shootings — and some tough talks with his wife Sara — led Busse to leave the gun industry. Then he wrote a book about it titled “Gunfight: My Battle Against the Industry That Radicalized America.”
Busse’s last name is not pronounced like actor Gary Busey. He also doesn’t have the crazy eyes and hair like Busey. What Busse does have, though, is a passion for Montana. That passion shines through in this podcast.
Yesterday, he was in Butte, and we met at the M&M for a fun talk.
Listen in as Mr. Busse talks about transitioning out of the gun industry. Listen to hear how he still loves guns, and he can’t even count how many he currently owns. Listen in to hear how Busse found some common ground with his neighbor with a Trump flag and a butcher wearing a Trump hat.
Listen in to hear that Busse was a pretty decent college baseball player and how he has no preference in the Nov. 18 Cat-Griz football game. He says he isn’t even playing politics with that declaration.
Gov. Gianforte, by the way, is also invited to make an appearance on this podcast to retort.
The following video was dropped when Busse announced he was running for governor. The viral video was discussed in this podcast.
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Some great Veterans Day advice from young Tommy Mellott
You can call it the “oh yeah” game, and we all play it all the time in Montana.
Whenever someone tells you a story to highlight the greatness of Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott, another person will say, “Oh yeah, well listen to this.”
Then, that person tells another great Tommy story that he thinks is even better than the one you just told. We could do this all day because there are just so many great Tommy Mellott stories.
Most of these stories have nothing to do with playing football, either.
He went to a birthday party for a very young girl he just met when he was a star at Butte High. He wrote a heartfelt letter to the graduating sixth graders at his alma matter Margaret Leary Elementary when he couldn’t attend the graduation because of COVID. He was a high school mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters. He was a recipient of the Mariah’s Challenge Scholarship.
He told Bobcat fans to quit heckling the players for the Montana Grizzlies after he had a huge performance to help beat MSU’s biggest rival last year in Bozeman.
When the Montana-East West Shrine Game was canceled because of the pandemic in 2020, Tommy started a cornhole tournament that raised more than $50,000 for the Shriners Hospital for Children in Spokane, Washington.
Really, I could go on and on.
In Butte, we joke that Tommy is simply too good to be true. It might seem that way, too, but Tommy is the real deal. He is, without question, the genuine article.
I got my first glimpse of just how great of a young man Tommy is when he was in the seventh grade. It was Veterans Day, and Tommy’s grandma Margie Fogarty showed me an essay her grandson wrote about veterans for school.
Now, I had long known the name Tommy Mellott, thanks to our Little Guy Football reports and the Grade School Track Meet. On that Veterans Day nearly a decade ago, however, I got my first glimpse of his true greatness.
Veterans Day has long been my favorite holiday.
No, I did not serve in the armed forces, but I have so much respect and admiration for those who did. My dad and my grandpa both served.
My grandpa Bill, who passed away at 89 in 2015, served in the Navy during World War II. My grandpa was my favorite golfing partner and my best friend.
He told me so many of his stories over the years, but it wasn’t until I read the diary he kept while serving on the USS Rudyerd Bay that I realized what he was really going through.
My dad volunteered for the draft in 1967. He served in the Army and had orders for Vietnam before North Korea captured the USS Pueblo in January of 1968.
Whether you are a combat veteran or a veteran during peacetime, you are a hero, and you should be treated as such. When you signed up, you did so knowing that there was a decent chance that you were going to lay down your life so that people you never met can be free.
Most people will agree with that, but too many do not follow through. When I see someone wearing a hat that says veteran or the name of a ship on it, I always ask that veteran about his or her service for our country. Then I thank the veteran.
I didn’t do that when I was in junior high school, though. Tommy did.
Like I did when my grandpa told stories, Tommy clearly listened to his grandpa. His grandpa was Gene Fogarty, a Korean War veteran and legendary East Junior High School coach who passed away in 2021.
Check out Tommy’s seventh-grade essay about Veterans Day:
“Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light.” That is the beginning of the starting stanza in the Star-Spangled Banner, but when I sing it before any sporting event, I think of all the American Veterans out there risking their life for our freedom. American Veterans should be on everyone’s list of most respectable people. However, there are numerous citizens that don’t show them enough respect.
If you didn’t already know, veterans are the reason we live in such an amazing country. They get up every morning knowing this could be their last day. You might think our president would need to draft these brave soldiers to fight for our freedom, but he didn’t. These amazing people sign up for it, not because they need to, but because of their love for this country. They love our country so much that they will leave their family and friends to protect strangers that they have never seen or met. A lot of people don’t realize how special they really are and they don’t show it either.
My grandfather was a veteran of the Korean War as a Marine. He is my mom’s dad and is a loving husband and grandfather. He is the reason I have such a strong passion for sports and a yearning to be the best I can be. Now almost everything I do is either school or sports related. Like every grandfather, he loves telling me stories about his life. Whether it is sports related or when he was in the Marines he always has a story to tell. I love listening to him. He is a great American hero.
Although veterans are the reason we have freedom and liberty, people still don’t show them respect like I do. My parents taught me to always approach a dressed military man or shake their hand, and thank them for serving. They also taught me to always respect the American Flag by crossing my right hand over my heart. I notice many adults that don’t ever do this and I think it’s just pathetic. Every mother and father should teach their children to show respect towards these very important people.
The next time you see a man or woman in uniform make sure you show them how much you respect them by shaking their hand or even talking to them for a while.
That sentiment coming from a man Tommy’s age today would be impressive. That it came from a seventh grader, to me, is absolutely mind blowing.
Apparently, Tommy’s teacher agreed because he received a 100 percent on the paper.
This Veterans Day story should win any contest talking about the greatness of Tommy Mellott, but I am sure someone will try to top it.
Saturday is Veterans Day. As Tommy pretty much said in his essay, every day should be Veterans Day. Our Veterans should be treated like royalty 365 days a year. Make that 366 next year.
So, whether it is this Saturday or just any other day of the week, I encourage you to follow the advice of young Tommy Mellott. Shake the hand of a veteran and talk to him or her for a while.
Ask the veterans about their service time, and then tell them thank you. Make veterans feel exactly like the heroes they really are.
Then, tell them a Tommy Mellott story and see if they want to play the “oh yeah” game.
— Bill Foley, a University of Montana Graduate who will be cheering for Tommy Mellott and the Montana State Bobcats (except when Big Jake Olson has the ball) when they play in Missoula Nov. 18, can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74. Listen to the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
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Montana Storm, Post up Malone, Nuggets lead Rock Standings
Both divisions are up for grabs as we head into the final week of the Rock 3 on 3 Youth Basketball League.
Montana Storm and Post Up Malone are tied for first place at 7-1 in the division for boys in the fifth and sixth grade. Luke Baker, Owen Arthur, Riley Estes and Charlie Everett play for Montana Storm. Bridger Smyth, Cole O’Connor, Landon Wrampe, Trace Simon and Benny Donaldson play for Post Up Malone.
The Hot Shots are one game back at 6-2. That team is made up of Crew O’Connor, Bridger Stearns, Blake Connors and Hudson Summers.
In the division for boys in the third and fourth grade, the Nuggets lead the way at 7-1. Beau Benski, Cashton Schneider, Chase McQueary and Mason Ferko play for the Nuggets.
The Bucks are one game back at 6-2. Colsyn Crawshaw, Carter Kelly, Brody Evensen and Beau Sampson make up the Bucks.
Play will conclude Sunday at the Maroon Activities Center. Click the link below for full standings, results and Sunday’s schedule.
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Veterans Day Race set for Saturday
The 86th running of the Veterans Day Race will be held at 11:11 a.m. Saturday in Butte.
This year, the course will change after five years starting and finishing at the new American Legion Hall on the corner of Wynne and McKinley avenues. Both races will still start and finish at the Legion Hall, but the 5-mile course will change.
In an effort to address past safety concerns, the 5-mile course will include two laps around the 2 ½-mile course this year.
Montana’s oldest road race was created in 1934 by two World War I veterans, C. Owen Smithers and Charlie McAuliffe. Since then, the race has been held every Veterans Day except during the World War II years between 1942-45. The event is one of the oldest races held annually in the west.
For many years, the event was started and finished in the uptown business district.
The race was primarily between athletes from the three high schools in the area, the two Butte schools and Anaconda. The start/finish line venue was changed to Naranche Stadium in 1967. It remained at this location until 1975.
The next year, in 1976, the race was opened to all runners and moved to the Flats.
The race started at Stodden Park and ended at the American Legion Hall near the Copper King Inn from 1985 through 2017.
Nicole Murray is the six-time defending champion of the women’s 5-mile race. She has won the event 16 times overall. Michael DeForest is the defending champion on the men’s side.
Weather conditions appear to be favorable for the 86th running, but the race will be run no matter the weather.
Cost is $20 or $10 for runners 18 and younger. Race-day registration will be held from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Awards and lunch will follow the race.
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Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week: Jaycee Cleveland and Torre Tempel
Butte High juniors Jaycee Cleveland and Torre Tempel are this week’s Leskovar Honda Athletes of the Week.
The honors come just days after the Butte High volleyball and football teams saw their seasons come to an end.
Cleveland, a 5-foot-8 setter, takes home the girls’ honor after a strong season for the Bulldog volleyball team. In three matches during the Western AA Divisional tournament at the Butte Civic Center, Cleveland totaled 71 assists to run the Bulldog attack.
She registered 23 digs and four blocks in the tournament. During the season, Cleveland was also among the leaders behind the service line.
Tempel, a 5-10 cornerback, was a ballhawk for the Bulldog football team all season long. His four interceptions ranked second in the Western AA and tied for third in the Class AA. He also forced a couple of fumbles for Butte High.
On the season, Tempel also racked up 30 total tackles and five pass defenses.
Leskovar Honda, home of the 20-year, 200,000-mile warranty, teamed up with the ButteCast to honor the finest athletes from the Mining City in an effort to encourage more children to get up, get out and try all kinds of sports and activities.
Photos of Cleveland and Tempel were provided by Alycia Holland Photography.
The ButteCast with Bill Foley 