The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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A Lincoln woman and her two pets died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in a home west of town, Nov. 13. According to Lewis and Clark County Sheriff/Coroner Leo Dutton, dispatch received a call at 2:29 p.m. Friday about a possible death in the 3700 block of Highway 200. The deputy who responded found Lincoln resident Barbra French, 65, deceased. French’s cat was also found dead. Her dog, though found alive, has since died as well. According to Dutton, professional readings in the home showed very high levels of carbon m...
Stemple Pass is well known landmark in the Lincoln area. Once a primary route between Helena and Lincoln, today it's a popular byway that provides access to outdoor activities year round. But who was this pass, and the surrounding mining district, actually named for? John Adam Stemple was born in Preston County, W. Va., March 16, 1834. His family is reportedly settled in Virginia in 1774, after two brothers arrived in the colonies. Members of the Stemple clan are also said to...
Following their Oct. 20 meeting, the Upper Blackfoot Valley Community Council drafted a letter to the Montana Department of Transportation objecting to the findings in their proposal to lower the speed on a one-mile stretch of Highway 200 just east of Lincoln. Early last month, in response to an August request from Lewis and Clark County for a a speed study in the area, MDT proposed lowering the speed limit from the east end of Lincoln to Airport Road from 70 mph to 60 mph....
Fred and Leigh Ann Valiton, owners of the Blackfoot Commercial Company in Ovando, paid a visit to the Lincoln Volunteer Ambulance Nov. 3, to present the service with a donation from the Ovando Community. Anonymous donors in Ovando pulled together a total of $9000 for the ambulance. "This kind of jumped up on itself almost. We did not go out begging for this, by any means. Several in our community felt like we could put enough cash together to make it worthwhile," Fred Valiton...
There is a lot of controversy swirling around the Presidential election at the national level, despite media outlets declaring Joe Biden the winner, but at Lincoln School, Donald Trump was the clear choice among students, taking 55 votes to Joe Biden's nine. Lincoln students got a taste of the political process Nov. 3 as High School and Junior High students, joined by Stacey Mannix's 5th grade class, cast votes for President of the United States, Montana Senator, Montana...
The Lincoln area got a mostly imperceptible shake early Friday morning as a 3.3 magnitude earthquake struck near the South Fork of Poorman Creek, between Stemple Pass Road and Granite Butte at a depth of about 7.7 miles. The earthquake struck at about 6:22 a.m., Oct. 30 but didn't cause any reported damage. According to the US Geological survey, the tremor was the largest of 21 minor quakes to rumble below the surface in the Poorman Creek area over the last 30 days. A 2.7...
The Christmas season in the Upper Blackfoot Valley is likely to look a bit less festive this year, as COVID-19 precautions take their toll on events. Among the casualties this year are Ovando’s Old West Christmas Fest and Lincoln’s annual Christmas Bazaar. Leigh Ann Valiton, one of the organizers of the Old West Christmas Fest, said social distancing requirements were among the primary reasons Ovando opted to call off their annual celebration. Valiton said the impact on the craft show, which is held every year in the Ova... Full story
The Lincoln Volunteer Fire Department responded to a small fire at a residence along Highway 200 about 15 miles east of Lincoln Sunday evening. The fire, which effectively destroyed the homes kitchen, started when a pan with grease in it caught fire. Homeowner Denis Bordeleau managed to extinguish the fire, despite not being able to see the flames for the smoke, by breaking a window and spraying the kitchen area with water from his garden hose. Unable to re-enter his house...
An accident late on Beaver Creek Road Wednesday night, Oct. 21, claimed the life of Lincoln resident Chris Buster, 44, when his pickup went off the road about five miles north of Highway 200. Lewis and Clark County Dispatch received word of the accident at 10:40 a.m. Thursday Buster failed to return to his home in Lincoln Wednesday night after spending the day scouting for elk. Bobbijean and friends discovered the accident Thursday morning. Montana State Highway Patrol...
The Lincoln Prosperity Group - formerly the Upper Blackfoot Working Group – hosted a Virtual Open House Oct. 19 to gather feedback on the Lincoln Prosperity Proposal from Helena-area residents. The event was the first in a series of virtual open houses planned over the next three months, to introduce Montanans outside the Upper Blackfoot to the collaborative plan for public land management in the Lincoln area. The open houses are part of the final push to refine the proposal w...
Lewis and Clark County's new undersheriff is a familiar face to Lincoln residents. Sheriff Leo Dutton selected Helena native and former Lincoln substation deputy Brent Colbert to fill the position held by Jason Grimmis until Sept. 30. Colbert's promotion into the position became effective Oct. 14. Grimmis retired after 27 years with the LCCSO to pursue a new career as the first director of campus security and public safety at Carroll College. Colbert was one of three members...
The storm last weekend that dropped about five inches of snow in Lincoln resulted in a handful of slide-offs and accidents along Highway 200 in the Upper Blackfoot. Lincoln Fire Rescue and the Lincoln Volunteer Ambulance started Saturday morning off with a 5 a.m. call concerning an accident about 16 miles west of Lincoln, between the Highway 141 intersection and Browns Lake, but both were called off before leaving Lincoln because other responders were already on scene. A...
Lincoln School reopened Monday morning after being closed last week due to concerns about a possible close-contact coronavirus exposure. The closure resulted from a message about a possible close contact with someone who had COVID-19 and was largely a precautionary measure, said Shane Brown, Lincoln Elementary School principal and the COVID-19 response team leader. Brown saw the message, sent late Monday night, at about 4 a.m. Tuesday morning. "That's when we started doing... Full story
Diane Krier earned recognition this year for her work as the Lincoln Schools cafeteria manager and food director with the Wonderful Outstanding Worker award from the Montana School Nutrition Association. Patrice O'Loughlin, the awards chairperson for the MTSNA, made the trip up to Lincoln Friday Oct. 9 to present Krier with the award for "exceptional service and devotion to Montana students," and that, according to the MTSNA website, "recognizes any school food service...
4 may go down in history as a generally abysmal year nationally, but locally the Lincoln Ranger District completed a series of enhancements to local outdoor recreational opportunities on the National Forest around Lincoln this year. "Some long-term projects got wrapped up this year," Josh Lattin, District Resource Specialist, told the BVD. Roger's Pass Although the COVID-19 pandemic impacted traffic on Continental Divide Trail this year, next year hikers will find an...
In a decision issued after the BVD went to press last week, the Montana Supreme Court stayed a Sept. 25 order by district court Judge Donald Harris that required ballots to simply be postmarked by Election Day to be counted. The decision reinstates the requirement under state law that says ballots must be in the possession of elections officials by 8 p.m. on Election Day. In his decision, Harris changed the deadline to a postmark deadline out of concern around inconsistent... Full story
Update In a decision issued after the BVD print edition went to press Tuesday morning, , the Montana Supreme Court Tuesday stayed a Sept. 25 order by district court Judge Donald Harris that required ballots to simply be postmarked by Election Day to be counted. The decision reinstates the requirement under state law that says ballots must be in the possession of elections officials by 8 p.m. on Election Day. In his decision, Harris changed the deadline to a postmark deadline... Full story
In a surprisingly swift response to the request for a speed study on Highway 200 east of Lincoln, the Montana Department of Transportation is proposing to reduce speeds east of Lincoln, past Sculpture in the Wild and the Lincoln Ranger Station complex. Based on the traffic operation, they are recommending a modification of the speed zones on the east end of Lincoln to include a new nearly mile-long 60 mph speed zone that will extend east to the intersection with Airport Road....
A side-by-side accident during the Oct. 3 DAV Fun Run sent one woman to the hospital after the driver apparently overcorrected on a sharp corner just below Huckleberry pass, sending the OHV off an embankment and into the trees below. The women, who weren't identified but were said to be from Great Falls, were discovered by two bowhunters who were driving past. Trevor Bowman and Preston Millan, from the Missoula area, were looking for a game trail that would take them away from...
Ballots will be mailed out Oct. 9 to all active and provisionally registered voters in Lewis and Clark County and should begin showing up in mailboxes Oct. 10. According to a press release from Lewis and Clark County, the election system allows for one active ballot at a time per registered voter. People wishing to vote in person, or who have already voted in person, may still receive a ballot in the mail, however, if a person has already voted in person, the mail-in ballot... Full story
Lincoln saw its first and only sanctioned OHV fun run last weekend as riders took to the hills for the Second Annual Disabled American Veterans of Montana Fun Run, Oct. 3. Montana state’s DAV commander Kevin Grantier first brought the fun run to Lincoln last year to help raise funds for the DAV’s transportation fund, which helps veterans in rural areas across the state to get to their medical appointments. Grantier said this year’s ride was dedicated to Shannon Spencer, a Helena Marine Corps veteran who died last Novem...
For Envision Lincoln to have a shot at a $20,000 grant it is pursuing through Montana Main Street for a Downtown Master Plan, at least a portion of the $4,000 in matching funds will have to be raised locally. Envision Lincoln began exploring the need for a professional Master Plan earlier this year, and chose to move ahead with the grant application following a July 30 Zoom meeting with Montana Main Street and the Montana Department of Commerce Community Development Division....
In the wake of Gov. Steve Bullock Aug. 6 directive, 45 of Montana’s 56 counties have opted for mail-in voting this year, but Powell County is one of the few that still plans to staff polling places for the Nov. 3 general elections. Powell County Elections Administrator Jody Walker had planned to ask the county commission to change to mail-in elections this year, but said public comment at a commission meeting persuaded her to continue with in-person polling places. As in Lewis and Clark County, Walker’s main concerns inv... Full story
The Montana Department of Transportation has extended a speed study on Highway 200 east of Lincoln to include the intersection with Airport Road east of the Lincoln Ranger District. Lewis and Clark County Public Works director Eric Griffin requested the study extension after members of the Lincoln Airport Foundation voiced support for including the intersection east of the Lincoln Ranger District. In an e-mail to MDT's Aeronautics Division Administrator Tim Conway, LAF Vice Pr...
In a memo to the Board of County Commissioners, Lewis and Clark County staff recommended they approve a contract with the Treasure State Endowment Program to provide $558,806 in funding to Lewis and Clark County for the Dalton Mountain Road Bridge Replacement. The project was accepted into the Montana Department of Transportation off-system bridge program earlier this year and is currently projected to cost $2.387 million under that program. The TSEP money will provide a...
