The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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Lewis and Clark County deputies arrested a Lincoln man on a parole violation Wednesday, April 18, just a day after he bonded out of jail for a felony arrest on April 16. Deputies arrested Michael "Mick" Willey for felony aggravated assault after he allegedly punched a woman in the face several times during an argument. According to the Probable Cause Affidavit filed by Deputy Jeffery Stoltz, deputies responded to a report of two people involved in an altercation and trying to...
Back in 2012, the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch launched the newspapers first website. At the time, blackfootvalleydispatch.com was meant to be a first step in bringing news of the Upper Blackfoot Valley into the digital realm, so we kept it basic. Too Basic. Unfortunately, it lacked much of what readers were looking for. Little did we suspect it would be six years before we'd take the next step. But on April 4, we debuted an improved, full-featured blackfootvalleydispatch.com....
SEATTLE - "I had never, at any point in my medical training, sat in a room where at the same time you tell a patient they have a diagnosis, you also tell them they will definitively die from that diagnosis." This was Dr. Nicholas Vitanza's memory of meeting his first patient with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), an inoperable brain tumor found in children. As a pediatric neuro-oncologist at Seattle's Children's Hospital, he has since delivered the same message to many... Full story
Between phone calls to the Blackfoot Angler asking if Browns Lake is open yet (it's not, except where someone dropped the front end of their truck through the ice), Kathy Shoendoerfer spoke with a lingering trace of disbelief in her voice about Ovando's recognition as Montana Tourism's 2018 Community of the Year. "We really, really, really wanted it, but I don't think we understood we really had a chance," Schoendoerfer, owner of the Blackfoot Angler and Ovando's self-describe...
Authors' Note: This piece is excerpted from a report Clyde Fickes wrote in May 1944. It appeared in "Volume 1 – Early Days In The Forest Service." His words are excerpted with light editing. Fickes retired from the U.S. Forest Service in 1947. He died at age 103 on Dec. 29, 1987 – from an accident on the dance floor. The Sun River country comprises some interesting and spectacular topography. The river comes out of the mountains in a due east and west course for some 8 or 9 m...
The Department of Public Health and Human Services and local public health agencies remind Montanans and visitors to the state to be aware of the risk of hantavirus and to take precautions to avoid exposures to rodents, their droppings and nests. “Although hantavirus infection can occur during any month, the risk of exposure is increased in the spring and summer as people clean cabins and sheds and spend more time outside in the vicinity of rodents,” said DPHHS epidemiologist Rachel Hinnenkamp. With 43 cases of han...
Biological Assessments for the Willow Creek Vegetation Project in the Dalton Mountain area have been submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the interdisciplinary team working on the project is addressing the comments received during the public scoping period that ended March 28. Lincoln District Ranger Michael Stansberry told county commissioners at the April 6 Government day meeting the FWS consultation typically takes about 30 days. Once completed, they'll...
A firearm, computer and purse were stolen from two vehicles at a home about six miles east of Lincoln sometime after midnight on the morning of Saturday, April 21. According to the call for service report, the thief or thieves stole a purse containing a wallet and cell phone, a green shooting bag containing a handgun, and a computer bag with a laptop and accessories in it. The property owner said the items were stolen from two separate vehicles, but the thieves searched three vehicles in the property looking for items to...
Northwestern Energy hosted an open-house style meet-and-greet at the Lincoln Community Hall Thursday, Apr. 19, encouraging locals to stop in and get to know Lincoln's new Northwestern Energy Town Manager, Shea Forkan. Forkan, who began work Jan 15, filled the position vacated by the retirement of Lincoln's well known "power guy" Mike Campbell, putting to rest concerns the position would be dissolved and that Lincoln would be serviced by technicians traveling from Helena....
The Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office, working with the Montana Horse Sanctuary in Simms, seized a horse from a pasture west of Lincoln April 3 out of concern for the animals well-being. Deputy Chris Joyce said the horse, a gelding known as Rodney, was being fed by neighbors and concerned residents who were donating hay for the animal. He said the horse's owners put a round bale in the pasture last winter, but as far as he knows, they never fed the horse during this...
The calendar says that spring has come to Montana, but it does not seem like it has come to the high country. I must say that I was spoiled last week as Lisa and I travelled to Cannon Beach, Ore. to attend our mission’s annual conference. We enjoyed a few 60 degree days, a fair amount of wind and rain, and the greenery of western Oregon. It was a nice time away except for the driving, but well worth it. Spring brings renewal to the land and the people, and so does attending a conference with over 140 like-minded m...
It’s a simple fact: Wilderness Study Areas have resulted in less access for Montana sportsmen and sportswomen. In a literal sense, these public lands are essentially locked up. With hunting and fishing access becoming more precious each year, it only makes sense to review the WSAs in Montana, and release those that are not suitable to become full-blown Wilderness. Senator Daines and Congressman Gianforte have proposed just that—and surprisingly, they’ve caught hell for it from groups that normally support increasing publi...
HELENA – The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation announced the hiring of Sonya Germann as the new Administrator of the Forestry Division. A native of Ennis, Mont., Germann began working for the DNRC in 2004 as a part-time staff person in the Forestry Division’s seedling nursery. She was hired as a full time planner in the Trust Lands Division’s Forest Management Bureau in 2007and was promoted to bureau chief in 2012. “Following a national search with many highly-qualified candidates, I’m pleased to announ...
ASSE International Student Exchange Programs, in cooperation with your community high school, is looking for local families to host boys and girls between the ages of 15 to 18 from a variety of countries: Norway, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Japan, to name a few. ASSE students are enthusiastic and excited to experience American culture while they practice their English. They also love to share their own culture and language with their host families. Host families welcome these students into their family, not as a guest, but as a...
Coleton Bushell, owner of Helena's CB Roofing, removes a section of metal roofing from the Lincoln Fire Hall, Saturday, April 21. Replacing the roof on the main Fire Hall on Stemple Pass Road in downtown Lincoln has been a priority for the Lincoln Rural Fire District since last year. The roof of the 48-year-old fire hall had been repaired several times over the years, but in recent years leaks had developed that were saturating the drywall inside the building, putting both...