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FLATHEADBEACON.COM NEWS DECEMBER 31, 2014 | 27 Off the Blogs
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MONTANA SIDELINES
LOCAL FOOTBALL PLAYERS NAMED TO SHRINE ALL-STAR GAME
Rosters have been announced for the Montana East-West Shrine Game, the state’s annual all-star football game.
The 69th annual game, featuring 40 of the best senior players from each side of the state, is July 18 in Great Falls.
Five players from Glacier, three from Columbia Falls and one each from Big- fork, Flathead, Libby and Hot Springs were named to the West roster.
Glacier’s selections were defensive end Andrew Harris, linebacker Josh Hill, wide receiver Logan Jones, of- fensive guard Harrison Kauffman and quarterback Brady McChesney.
Columbia Falls’ selections were wide receiver Ty Morgan, defensive lineman Spencer Ross and defensive end Ike Sch- weikert.
Other local selections were Josh San- dry, a safety at Bigfork, Aaron Siderius, a defensive lineman from Flathead, Mi- chae Curtiss, an offensive lineman from Libby, and Tanner Hoff, a return special- ist from Hot Springs.
Players were nominated by their schools and coaches across the state and a selection committee named the final rosters.
Several local athletes were also named alternates on the West roster: Flathead’s Jess Beaman; Glacier’s Devin Cochran, Hunter Kauffman, Truman Pisk, Tucker Rauthe and Cain Boschee; Columbia Fall’s Trevor Houston; Big- fork’s Logan Mejak and Whitefish’s Jack Streibich.
The West’s all-star football team de- feated the East 34-10 last year.
Gary Lowry has been selected as head coach of the East team. Coach Low- ry was assistant coach at Great Falls CM Russell from 1984 until taking over the reigns as head coach this fall, finishing runner up in Class AA his first year at the helm.
Don Peoples of Butte Central will coach the West team. Peoples is a gradu- ate of Butte Central and a 1986 graduate of Carroll College.
Every year since 1947, Montana high schools’ finest players are selected to compete in a game to raise money and to help make the public aware of the ex- pert orthopedic and burn care available at the Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Spokane, Washington.
In recent years, the Montana game has become one of the top Shrine Games in the nation for hospital donations. The Montana Shrine Game has raised over $200,000 the past two years.
MOUNTAIN EXPOSURE
JEFFERSON COUNTY MAN BANNED FROM FEDERAL LAND
A southwestern Montana man has been fined $1,700 and banned from all federal lands for two years after being convicted of building illegal hunting camps and a trail in the Helena National Forest.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Strong on Dec. 4 found Robert C. Myers of Jef- ferson County guilty of four misdemean- or charges including building trails and structures and camping longer than the state limit of 14 days.
Strong banned Myers, 64, from all national forests and national parks for four years, but suspended two years af- ter Myers paid the fine.
Banishment “is significant and not something that occurs very often, which speaks to the egregious nature of what he was doing,” Forest Service law en- forcement officer Tony Fedele told the Helena Independent Record.
The Forest Service began investi- gating Myers’ camps in 2010 and Fedele said he made more than 20 visits to the camps during the investigation.
Myers was cited in October.
Fedele said one camp was built about 9 miles west of Clancy and the second one about 1.5 miles north of the first. Prosecutors alleged Myers built a 4.5- mile trail, including bridges, to the sec- ond camp. Both camps had permanent corrals while the second one had a hay storage barn and a permanent floor for the tent.
Rehabilitating the trail would have carried more than $20,000 in fines, but by the time the case got to court beetle- killed trees had fallen in the area and covered the trail, Fedele said.
The Forest Service is investigating several other illegal camps in the Helena National Forest and Fedele hopes Myers’ conviction might serve as a warning
“I’m always for someone going out to enjoy their national forest, but they must remember it’s not simply for your own use but for everyone,” Fedele said.
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