The midwest-based Live Hydration Spa has been opened in Kalispell by Katie and John Pipek. Hydration Spa  gives people an option for hydration outside of a hospital setting. Kalispell is the only Montana location. The Spa can tailor bags for each individual patient depending on their goals, symptoms or possible disorders. Live Hydration Spa is located at 135 W Idaho St, Suite B in Kalispell.

The Missoula River Lodge property, prime habitat for local wildlife of all types, is tucked alongside an oxbow and just upstream of the confluence of Sixmile Creek and the Clark Fork. Wildlife biologists and bear managers claim the  vicinity of the Sixmile-Clark Fork confluence as one of the most vital wildlife zones in Missoula County. A recent study by the Missoula Bear Smart Working Group found that unsecured garbage is by far the leading cause of human-bear conflicts. Bear managers and biologists have described an epidemic of bears raiding garbage.  An enclosure built in June at the fishing lodge is a marquee example of the long-lasting structures of which the group hopes to build more.

Two Helena-based groups will receive a portion of the $1.4 million the Otto Bremer Trust is giving to Montana organizations. Shodair Children’s Hospital will get $250,000 to help build a new hospital to provide pediatric and adolescent mental and behavioral health services. Helena-based Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Montana will get $40,000 for general operations to create and support one-to-one youth mentoring relationships. Bremer is a private charitable trust based in St. Paul, Minnesota, created in 1944 by Otto Bremer.

A plan to develop a long-term facility, the Williston Energy Center, for youth in the City of Williston was presented at Sloulin Field recently by Power Play Project, Inc. The group sees this as being a draw for people in the Dakotas, Montana, and Canada. The plan highlights a remodel and addition to the hangar to build a long-term facility to include a multi-purpose.  Plans to allow for general ice activities are included as well as area hockey games. The group’s fundraising target is $25-30 million to cover all the amenities that are designed into the projected facility.

It was early September and Roxann McGuire was walking through the crop rows at Willow Mountain Winery. She strategically sampled grapes off the vines. She was looking for the combination of acid and sweetness that tells her the grape is ready to be harvested. McGuire has tr...