The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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After Jack Beckstrom died unexpectedly of a heart attack last March, Seeley Lake musher Roy Etnire began looking for a spot along the Race to the Sky trail for a sign or plaque to honor the man who founded the event in 1986. "There are a lot of people who use this trail who would, I think, enjoy knowing the story of Jack Beckstrom," said Etnire. "He affected so many people that we shouldn't ignore him." Pam Beckstrom, Jack's widow, said the idea for a sign to honor him came...
The Lincoln School Board is currently considering five applicants for the position of Lincoln Schools Superintendent. In January, the board contracted with the Montana School Board Association to aid in a candidate search for two separate positions that will be made available by the impending retirement of Lincoln Schools Principal/Superintendent Carla Anderson. "We work with a couple of lawyers, and they coach us on the different steps to take," Lincoln School Board...
The Lincoln Lynx basketball teams ended their seasons at the Western C District Tournament in Frenchtown last week. The Lincoln girls started off strong with a Valentine's Day 45-29 win over the Victor Lady Pirates. The decisive win set them up to face off against the District 13 C top seed, the Seeley Swan Blackhawks Feb. 15. The Lincoln girls proved to be a tough team to beat, despite a commanding 25 - 11 lead by Seeley at the half. The Lady Lynx flipped the script on the...
Lincoln Ranger District Fire Management Officer Jarel Kurtz is slated to take over as interim district ranger Feb. 25 while Michael Stansberry is on a four-month temporary duty assignment to fill in for Dan Dallas, the Forest Supervisor of the Rio Grande Forest in Colorado. Stansberry recommended Kurtz for the role after the government shutdown changed plans for the person originally slated to fill in as district ranger. Stansberry said the change should be beneficial for the...
Brett Bruggeman from Great Falls battled subzero temperatures, winds and drifting snow to win the 2019 Race to the Sky, crossing the finish line at 6:02 a.m. Tuesday morning, Feb. 12 at Hi-Country Snack Foods. The win is Bruggeman's first in the Race to the Sky, which he has competed in every year since 2013. He finished second in 2016. Bruggeman, an endodontist by trade, owns Skinny Leg Sleddogs and counts Lincoln's Doug Swingley, the 1991 Race to the sky winner who went on...
Back to back bouts of influenza and strep throat hit Lincoln School hard this month, leading to a high rate of absences in the last two weeks. Lincoln School secretary Olivia Cameron said on average, about 40 kids were absent from school each day during the first week of the month, primarily due to influenza, which has risen sharply across the state since mid-January. According to the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, flu activity ramped up dramatically across...
The Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual dinner meeting Thursday, Feb. 7 at the Lincoln Library. The evening began with a regular business meeting, accompanied by an informal pot luck dinner, that saw the four present LVCC directors discuss recent chamber events and updates before reconvening to seat two of the three new directors elected to the board. A look back at last month's Skijor Lincoln topped the agenda, with Chamber President Laurie Richards saying...
Lincoln High School Junior Nathan Brown surpassed the 1300-point mark for his high school career during the Lynx win against the Clark Fork Mountain Cats Saturday. Brown sank the 23 points against the Mountain Cats that pushed him over the 1300 point mark, and his performance Friday saw him rack up 32 points against Victor, which accounted for half the Lynx points scored in the home-game loss. Brown's father, Lincoln High Basketball Coach Shane Brown, said there's a pretty...
The Lincoln Outdoor Club finally got a start on its winter activities following the recent snow storms that brought a more than a foot of snow to the area. About 15 kids strapped on skates to hit the ice on the small 30-foot by 60-foot 'EZ Ice' rink that club organizer Sue Lattin set up on the Lincoln High school football field a few weeks ago. Lattins' fellow organizer Karyn Good, said they hadn't been able to do anything until now, due to the weather conditions. "It's finall...
An agreement to re-open the federal government saw the staff of the Lincoln Ranger District return to work Monday even as the possibility of a second shutdown in three weeks’ looms. The Lincoln Ranger district offices have been closed, and most of the employees furloughed, since Dec. 22, when an impasse between President Donald Trump and Congress over funding for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico left about 25 percent of the government, including the Department of Agriculture, without funding. The agreement reached la...
It's about 10 a.m. Monday morning as I write this, and things seem off kilter. The snowstorm that has finally blanketed Lincoln with much-needed snow continues outside, but something, or rather someone, is missing. It's at about this time on most Mondays that Bill Frisbee would stop in. Today, it would probably be to take a quick break from clearing parking lots of snow, but most times it was just to chat with my wife, Erin. Sometimes it was about projects or events they were...
The owner of a pickup truck stolen in Lincoln Jan. 6, called its location in to the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office after spotting it about eight miles west of town. Earl LaRoque discovered his green and white 1972 Chevy Classic pickup in Powell County along Highway 200 near mile marker 64 around noon Tuesday, Jan. 7. The truck had been parked off the road, among some trees. LaRoque saw the vehicle as it was being driven away from the Blue Sky Motel, Sunday evening, Jan. 6, but was unable to get a look at person w...
A sign on the door of the Lincoln Ranger Station serves as a reminder that the dozen or so full time employees there are still furloughed from their jobs as the longest government shut down in U.S. history approaches its fourth week. Locally, the closure of the Ranger District office is the most obvious impact of the partial government shutdown, the effects of which have been largely minimized here due to the winter season. However, as the shutdown drags on, its impacts may...
Residents urged to voice support for TSEP funding The grant funding needed for the Dalton Mountain Road bridge replacement project is currently part of the 2019 Legislative Session's House Bill 14, but supporters of the project are being urged to ask legislators to support bridge funding under the Treasure State Endowment Program, rather than a specific bill. In an e-mail to Lewis and Clark County Director of Public Works Eric Griffin and County Engineer Dan Karlin, Karl...
The Lincoln Rural Fire District received an anonymous $20,000 grant last week to be used for the purchase of land, which will provide a financial cushion for the district's purchase ofthe property just north of the Lincoln Fire Hall. LRFD Chairman Bill Frisbee said the District has a signed contract for the purchase of the two lots owned by Chris and Betty Waits. Totaling about eight-tenths of an acre, the properties include the vacant lot adjacent to the Fire Hall, which had...
Since the concept for a skate park in Lincoln was first introduced last fall, it has won the support of the Lincoln Community Council, Lincoln Park Board and, most recently, the City-County Parks board. However, at Friday’s Lincoln Government Day meeting, it became clear there are still a few hoops to jump through. Commissioner Susan Good Geise, who was replaced on the board by Commissioner Andy Hunthausen at the first of the year, apologized for a scheduling snafu in December that forced the Skate Park Committee to make t...
An act included in the 2018 Farm Bill signed by President Donald Trump Dec. 20 could help the Lincoln Volunteer Ambulance replace some of its aging equipment. The Supporting and Improving Rural EMS Needs (SIREN) Act of 2018 establishes an annual $10 million grant program for nonprofit or governmental emergency medical service agencies that serve residents in rural areas. The bipartisan act, first introduced in the House of Representatives last April by Montana’s Republican R...
UPDATE: The stolen pickup truck has been recovered. It was discovered west of Lincoln, in the trees near Highway 200 mile marker 64. Lewis and Clark county deputy Sheriff Tony Galahan responded to a report of a stolen pickup truck in Lincoln Sunday evening, which appeared to be connected to a vehicle break in that same evening. Just before 6 p.m., Blue sky Motel owner Earl Laroque heard a vehicle start up outside the building. He initially assumed it was a pickup belonging to...
"We got a live one!” came the shout as the door to the Ponderosa Snow Warriors clubhouse opened Saturday morning. The arrival of a lone guest caused Bob Orr, Mark Christian, Gerry Malek and the rest of the breakfast crew to spring into action, happy to have someone to serve during the slow first hour of the morning meal that began at 8 a.m. “The older ones are the ones who are still getting up early,” Kathy Reeve commented to another club member while waiting for custo...
For a little more than three years, the Matt King House has been home to several cats who have taken up residence among the stacked timbers of the building. The disassembled building has been stored behind the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch office since 2015, after Heritage Timber disassembled and moved the structure from its original location east of Sucker Creek Road. Since then the Lincoln Heritage Alliance, which formed as part of the effort to save the historic building, has b...
Santa's appearance at the Lincoln Pre-K to 6th grade concert proved a delight for long-time Lincoln residents as Bob Armstrong came out of retirement for the evening to don the red and white. A generation of Lincoln kids, some of whom are now parents themselves, grew up knowing Armstrong as Santa. He retired from the role in 2014 due to health concerns, but stepped back in to help out one more time....
A survey funded by the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development gathered insights last fall into the demographics, local spending and perception of Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild by out-of-area visitors. The survey, developed by the University of Montana's Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research and administered by BPSW Board members and volunteers during the artist residency in September, surveyed 397 sculpture park guests. It provides some of the...
An open house designed to provide a look back at the 2018 cleanup efforts at the Upper Blackfoot Mining Complex drew only about half a dozen area residents to the Lincoln Community Hall Thursday evening, Dec. 13. Unlike past community meetings, which took the form of presentations of facts and figures followed by a question and answers session, Montana Department of Environmental Quality opted for the Open House format to provide interested residents with a chance to talk...
Lincoln Public Schools superintendent and principal Carla Anderson informed the Lincoln school board of her decision to retire from the dual positions when her contract expires June 30, 2019. Anderson submitted her formal retirement announcement at the Dec. 10 School board meeting, citing concerns about the toll the job has been taking on her health since she suffered a stroke in 2015. "I have enjoyed my four years here, in this capacity, and have made lifelong friendships...
A fire believed to have started near the top of the chimney caused significant damage to a home on Dalton Mountain Road Monday afternoon, Dec. 10. The fire at the home of Shane and Teresa Brown was primarily isolated to the chimney and attic area of the house, but smoke and water damage resulted in an estimated $400,000 in damage to the three-story home. Teresa Brown said her mother, Mary Kornec, who lives next door, saw excessive smoke coming out of the homes chimney at...
