The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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Lincoln was awash in off-highway vehicles last weekend as people took advantage of nice weather and back to back rides here during the long Memorial Day weekend. The weekend kicked off with the annual Memorial Day Weekend ATV Fun Run, hosted this year by Bushwackers. The Fun Run, which traditionally has served as the first major event of the summer season, was complemented this year by a new event: the Blackfoot Valley Optimist's Scavenger Hunt. The idea for the scavenger...
After a coronavirus-related hiatus last year, an abridged Tour Divide once again brought cyclists racing down the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route through the Blackfoot Valley, en route to the Mexican border. With the Canadian border still closed and travel restrictions still in place for many countries due to COVID-19, this year's Tour is a 2450-mile, border-to-border race called the Great Divide Classic. About 300 miles shorter than the regular Tour Divide, it follows the Gr...
When unusual weather occurrences happen, like snow storms in late May, it can alter the migratory paths of wildlife, and species may be found in places it is uncommon for them to be. Among birds, this is sometimes referred to as an irruption, where one or more species moves south out of their normal ranges in search of food. As happened in Lincoln this spring, birds may also be seen at lower elevations than their normal ranges. A few varieties of birds that aren't usually...
OVANDO –The long Fourth of July weekend came to a tragic end early Tuesday morning after a grizzly bear attacked and killed an adult female cyclist who was camping in downtown Ovando near the Brand Bar Museum. Powell County Sheriff Gavin Roselles said his office received word of the attack at one of the in-town campsites at 3:30 a.m. Roselles couldn't provide detailed information about the victim, pending notification of her family, but confirmed she was traveling with o...
A young grizzly bear spotted in Lincoln Sunday afternoon caused some alarm on social media, but it apparently headed back to the Blackfoot River without incident. A Facebook post by Brandi Langlois indicated the bear had crossed her yard on Meadow Street on the west side of Lincoln and was headed toward town. Lincoln Fire Chief Zach Muse attempted to locate the bear, but it had apparently gotten spooked and headed back south to the Blackfoot River without making its way into...
Each spring, more than 150 students from schools within the Blackfoot Watershed meet up for a public swan release. This spring may have seen the last swan release for the Blackfoot Watershed. The swan release program is a joint project of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Blackfoot Challenge, according to Elaine Caton, Swan Restoration & Education Coordinator for the Blackfoot Challenge. The program began with a Trumpeter Swan Habitat Suitability Study for...
OVANDO - Ovando residents and local agencies hope to spread the word on bear safety in order to avoid incidents similar to the fatal grizzly bear attack that occurred in downtown Ovando in early July. Representatives from Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service held an open house in Ovando Thursday, Aug. 5. There the representatives and residents had a public discussion on what communal and individual methods could be taken towards mitigating...
Work this month at Sculpture in the Wild has focused on maintenance throughout the park. Kevin O'Dwyer and Marshal Bullis have been spending time this month on maintenance, repairing damage to sculptures and developing a final pathway around the southwest section of the sculpture park....
"Ahead was an ocean of rabbit brush bursting with yellow blossoms. The prairie under hoof was lavender in the dimming light." – Sarah Bird, Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen The perennial rubber (or gray) rabbitbrush, or Ericameria nauseosa, is a native species to Montana and can be found locally in the Blackfoot Valley as well as throughout the state. Additionally, the species ranges as far south as Mexico and north into British Columbia. Montana is host to four variants o...
The Lincoln Sportsmen’s Club is grateful to all those who supported and attended its banquet on September 23. A sold-out crowd gathered at the Lincoln Community Hall in support of the shooting sports in Lincoln and the surrounding area. It was great to see friends from Lincoln, Ovando, Helmville, Seeley Lake, and other areas enjoying the evening. Spearheaded by Wendell and Jan Weaver who chaired the banquet committee, the club provided an evening of good fun, great food, and fellowship for Lincoln and others from the B...
Next month the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch is making a change to our publication schedule due to a recent increase in our mailing costs an upcoming increase in our printing costs and declines in advertising revenue Beginning Oct. 7, the BVD will change from publishing an issue every week to publishing biweekly (every other week), on Thursdays. The decision wasn't easy to make and wasn't made lightly. It certainly wasn't what we had in mind when we bought the BVD nine-and-a-half...
Lawrence D. (Duff) Feeback passed away on August 31, 2021, at the age of 96 years. He was born in Blairstown, Missouri, on Dec. 21, 1924, to Forest and Violet (Vi) Feeback. Forest and Vi Feeback were life-long residents of west central Missouri eventually settling near La Tour where Forest and Vi farmed and raised beef cattle as well as their family: Duff was the eldest, followed by brother Don and sister Bonnie Hon. Duff graduated from La Tour High School in 1942 and enlisted in the Navy during WW II where he was stationed...
The first thing Myrna Crawford wants to make clear is that the Canyon Creek Country Store is not closing. With the historic store quietly for sale, Myrna and her husband Ron prepared for a living estate sale last Friday. The goal was simply to help clear out some of the antiques and collectibles in the store that they've amassed over the years. But rumors, they do like to fly. As she had explained repeatedly on Facebook posts, Myrna said they were having the sale, so they won'...
The Upper Blackfoot Valley Historical Society hosted the annual Lincoln Heritage Day last Saturday with approximately 125 attendees. The event highlights Lincoln's history, and gives kids and adults alike the opportunity to try their hand at historic skills and activities. We do it "to show old-time skills, so we don't lose those," said UBVHS president Erin Dey. This year, in addition to candle-making, butter-making and embroidery, the event debuted some new activities and...
Petitions that will let the county to move ahead with funding a chip seal project for the paved streets in Lincoln and Lambkins Rural improvement districts are still in need of signatures. Jessica Makus, Lewis and Clark County special districts program coordinator told the Upper Blackfoot Valley Community Council last week that they need just 17 signatures from property owner in the Lambkins RID and 65 signatures from property owners in the Lincoln RID to reach the 20 percent threshold that allows the Lewis and Clark County...
The Blackfoot Challenge Summer Block Party returned in full swing last week as more than 200 people filled Ovando's small downtown Wednesday, Aug. 11. The evening, though warm, saw the smoke that had lingered across the valley dissipate somewhat, allowing the gray haze to give way to a blue sky. The Challenge started the new annual tradition in 2018, with a celebration of its 25th anniversary. This year's get together didn't mark a milestone anniversary, but it provided a...
Although it was the last major point of discussion at Lincoln Government Day, an update on the progress of the Dalton Mountain Road Bridge replacement was a key subject during the Aug. 2 meeting. Montana Department of Transportation District 3 Administrator Jim Wingerter and Jimmy Combs, the District 3 pre-construction engineer were on hand for the meeting, to hear concerns about local MDT efforts, as well as to provide their perspective. The Dalton Mountain Bridge has been a...
Two petitions to fund chip sealing on Lincoln’s hard surface streets continue to be available to residents living in the Lincoln and Lambkins Rural Improvement Districts. If 20 percent or more of property owners in the RIDs sign the petitions, they will then be presented to the Lewis and Clark County Commissioners for a resolution of intention to take out loans to fund chip sealing. At the July 20 Upper Blackfoot Valley Community Council meeting, the council discussed the low signature count on the current RID petitions l...
With wildfire smoke lingering in the air across western Montana, and warm, dry conditions across the region pushing fire dangers ever higher, fire restrictions are the order of the day. Tuesday morning, July 27, Lewis and Clark County Commissioners approved a resolution to extend Stage 1 Fire Restrictions to areas west of the Continental Divide effective Wednesday, based on the recommendation of the Rural Fire Council and Sheriff Leo Dutton, who also serves as Fire Warden....
Believe it or not, there are occasionally times that I sit down to write this column, and I have no idea what I’m going to write about. It’s usually after a very long and crazy week, which was the exact definition of last week. There was a lot to do before my first in-person show of the year, where - in more than a year - I would be able to teach in person again. There also seemed to be something going on every night last week. Usually, I keep my schedule to a meeting or fun...
After COVID-19 prompted the community to call off their famously informal Fourth of July parade last year, Ovando was in full swing this year as the town square was filled with people who made the trip to the small Blackfoot Valley town for the event. "We come a thousand miles every year for this parade, " said Darren Dreessen of Moorhead, Minn., a relative of the Geary's from Helmville. He said they also have friends with family in Ovando who fly in from Coral Springs, Fla....
The Montana Newspaper Association announced the winners of the 2021 Better Newspaper Contest June 18, during their 136th Convention and the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch fared well in the results. The BVD, a Divsion 1 Newspaper (weekly, with a circulation of fewer than 1250) earned recognition in eight categories this year.. Writer Kate Radford earned a first place recognition for Best Education Coverage for her March 11, 2020 story on the Lincoln School Science fair. "Good...
Lincoln is set to have a banner summer, with events and activities scheduled most weekends through the end of August. Memorial Day weekend set the tone for the summer, with back-to-back ATV events on Saturday and Sunday. Other organizations and non-profits have their own events scheduled throughout the summer, making up for the string of cancellations that defined last year. The annual Community Spring Rummage Sale is this weekend, June 19 and 20, with more than 20 sales on...
Resurfacing paved streets in Lincoln has been the hot topic for the past few months, but updates on the roads and bridges outside of town dominated the Upper Blackfoot Valley Community Council meeting Tuesday, June 15. Cattle Guards Lewis and Clark County Road and Bridge Superintendent Kevin Horne said cattle guards were installed earlier this month on Stonewall Creek Road where it crosses property owned by Mike Stahly. The cattle guards ended a three-year dispute over access...
Lincoln Schools administration learned May 3 they had been selected to receive funding from the 21st Century Community Learning Center grant for the POUNCE program. In June 2019, POUNCE program director Jackie Grantier received notice just one day before the end of the POUNCE program that the school had not secured the 21st CCLC grant for the next five years, according to a Blackfoot Valley Dispatch article. The grant structure had changed reporting requirements, and two of th...
