The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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After 35 years, the annual Bob Purdy Memorial Softball Tournament is still growing strong. The tournament got its start in 1983, shortly after Bob Purdy, a strong advocate of sports, died in a logging accident. Sponsored by the Wheel Inn, this year's tournament saw the maximum number of teams -15 – sign up, but only 14 participated. The Wheel's Laurie Richards said they had several teams on standby, but the team that pulled out did so at the last minute due to too few p...
Downtown Ovando came alive last week as the Blackfoot Challenge hosted a Summer Party in the town square to celebrate the organization's 25th anniversary. The celebration kept things small and local, reflecting a renewed effort by the Blackfoot Challenge to reconnect more directly with the communities in the valley. "It became apparent in 1993 that we'd sort of forgotten a lot of stuff. We forgot about this, about bringing communities together," Blackfoot Challenge Chairman...
The Fish and Wildlife Commission has approved language for a proposed administrative rule that would codify population objectives for grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. The decision on August 9, 2018 sets into motion a public comment period that will run from Aug. 24 through Oct. 26. Public hearings will be held in Kalispell, Missoula, Great Falls, and Conrad. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff will explain and answer questions about the proposed...
MISSOULA – A University of Montana researcher has discovered that mountain pine beetles may avoid certain trees within a population they normally would kill due to genetics in the trees. UM Professor Diana Six made the discovery after studying mature whitebark and lodgepole trees that were the age and size that mountain pine beetle prefer, but had somehow escaped attack during the recent outbreak. After DNA screening, survivor trees all contained a similar genetic makeup t...
During the last few months Lincoln has reported fewer crime to the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office, and the citizens of Lincoln have had a hand in this. Thefts were the main crime affecting Lincoln. "With the assistance of citizens, we got rid of some people and the thefts and burglaries went down substantially," Lincoln's resident Deputy Sheriff Chris Joyce said. Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton said as a result deputies have been spending more time in other...
For many years it was traditional for almost every ranch to run 100 – 200 head of sheep. "Farm flocks" they were called. That lasted until to the mid 1970's when the coyotes and prices both got so bad, most ranchers just gave up and sold the ewes. Our father always had a small bunch around the house and corrals. They provided an extra income for our family. I don't know about the present, but in the 1950's and 60's the sheep provided four paychecks a year. We got paid for t...
It was a busy weekend at Hooper Park during the 35th Annual Bob Purdy Softball Tournament, and for the second year in a row players had to make do with porta-potties and a lack of running water. Although Thompson Contracting of Libby delivered the park's new concrete restrooms on schedule at the end of July, issues with plumbing and the state-mandated public water supply system have kept the facility shuttered. Nevertheless, the end may finally be in sight. (Knock on wood.) At...
With Lincoln School's first class of 15 preschoolers set to arrive in less than a week, Sondra Grigsby said it's been a big challenge starting a preschool from scratch. "Luckily, I've worked in preschools before, but it's been a few years," said Grigsby, who has a degree in early childhood education and has worked as Lincoln High School's grade 7-12 Special Education teacher for the last 15 years. "We did a bunch of touring of preschools prior, but it's a bit of a set up start...
We want to thank all those in the community for the great turn out for the clothing giveaway; to the generous people who cleaned closets and donated all items they didn't use and to the many who shopped for clothing that they could use. This was the purpose of the giveaway when it was started so many years ago. A special thank you to all who came to set up tables and sort, fold, stack, to those who came to box up all unclaimed items for donation to some worthy organizations....
With only a few small fires burning anywhere near Lincoln, the thick pall of smoke that descended on the area seemed to arrive out of nowhere, but was actually the result of wildfires burning in British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, and Northwest Montana. The miasma of smoke settled across most of the state during the weekend and prompted the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to issue an air quality alert for all 56 Montana counties Sunday. Air quality in western...
Dear Dietitian, My fourteen-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with celiac disease. We made an appointment with a dietitian, and she is doing her best to follow a gluten-free diet. The problem is she still has stomach aches and diarrhea three to five times a week. What should we do? Signed, Mandy Dear Mandy, Today as many as 3 million Americans suffer from celiac disease. As you have learned, gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, and triticale (a hybrid...
Cooler weather and rain that moved into the Lincoln area over the weekend helped firefighters improve containment of the Trail 467 Fire, which was 90 percent contained at 23 acres Tuesday morning. Progress on the fire allowed the Forest Service to re-open the section of Continental Divide Trail in the Granite Butte area Monday morning. As mop up of the fire continues, a portion of the Helmville-Gould Trail west of the CDT remains closed to the public Helena-Lewis and Clark...
As Lincoln School students head back to their classrooms next week, they can expect to see a few changes to the rules, as new policies enacted by the Lincoln School Board go into effect. Among the most notable changes are those dealing with attendance and cell phone usage. After Lincoln Junior High School's accreditation status was put into the "Advice" category earlier this year, due to issues with absenteeism and failing grades among 7th and 8th graders, Lincoln School...
While writing this today it is currently raining! First time in 40-plus days for this immediate area. And temps are in the 50's. And it is mid-August? What the heck? It is wonderful and may be just what we fisherpeople needed to get the fish back on the bite. It's been a slow month following the infamous spruce moth period where fish were filling up their bellies with those obnoxious little brindle moths. Every day we get hit with the two big questions: "How's the fishing? What are they biting on?" I think I scratched a bald...
Over the past several weeks I have thought a lot about the balance of life principle. Maybe a better way to frame that is so say life is full of uncertainty, both in us and others. So what do we do when things turn upside down and inside out? Do we throw up our hands and retreat to the alcohol cabinet? Or maybe it is the little pill that will soothe our troubled minds? It can be the weight room, shooting range, ATV trails, or the river. But even those things do not really seem to satisfy the deep longings of the wandering...
Jon Tester works hard. He cares about his constituents. He listens. He acts. For years my husband, Bob, doctored at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Many 5 a.m. Mondays, he and I joined Jon and Sharla at the airport. Jon never failed to ask about his health and to genuinely express his concern for us. When everyone’s seat light went out, Jon’s light was on, reading piles of paper from his briefcase, marking in the margin the important points. On the Thursday. or Friday evening flights back to Great Falls, there they wer...
