The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
Sorted by date Results 401 - 425 of 505
What is it about other people's junk that so enthralls us? I was asking myself that question last Friday as my family and I began our second circuit around Lincoln's annual flea market, eagerly seeking treasure. Flea markets crop up all over the world, bazaars made up of a variety of vendors selling cheap and used items, collectibles, antiques, and specialty food and beverages. The decidedly un-glamorous term "flea market" likely comes from the French marché aux puces, a...
In a press release late Monday afternoon, Sen. Steve Daines announced more than $20 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation for improvements to airports throughout the state. The announcement included a $95,400 grant for construction of a taxiway at the Lincoln Airport. "This funding will help bring our state's infrastructure to the 21st century, and as a result will boost tourism, create jobs, and encourage visitors from around the nation to come...
An early morning fire destroyed a cabin on Copper Creek Road near the Landers Fork Bridge Monday morning. A neighbor a few miles away reported the blaze at 6:45 a.m., thinking it was a wildfire. A crew with the Montana Department of Natural Resources responded and Lincoln Volunteer Fire Chief Zach Muse headed up shortly after the DNRC sent an engine out. Shortly after he got out of town Muse began picking up the DNRC's radio traffic, and it became clear it wasn't a wildfire....
Leona Cannon thought Dan Lerum was training her to be the new manager of Bushwackers over the winter, but by March he still hadn't given her an answer. So she asked for one. "I went to him... and asked 'are you going to make me manager? Am I wasting my time? How are we gonna do this?'" she said. "He said 'why would I make you manager?' I kind of lost it, then he said, 'when I could sell it to you?' That's what started the whole process." Just a couple weeks ago, Leona and her...
Recently, a group of media took flight with University of Montana professor Rick Graetz to take in the stunning landscape of the southern Crown of the Continent area, centered on Lincoln. This flight highlighted Graetz’s effort to map, explore, and include this landscape of the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest into the coveted Crown of the Continent, which could bring an economic boost for Lincoln. With increased visitors to the area, that tourism influx could assist in cushioning and leveling out the historic b...
Fishing is going CRAZY currently. The flow is still above normal. The temperature is still cool [thank you mother nature for making this July cooler than the last several years. Feel free to continue this trend]. Salmonflies were still flying around in the evening as of last week. What????? So guides were still using big ole Chernobyls, and fuzzy leggy ugly things. However we believe a change is in the air. Literally, with smaller flying caddis and size 10 or 12 spruce moths...
'Finally, finally, finally,' commented Lincoln Park board member Jesse Sallin, on the long-awaited installation of the new pre-cast restrooms, jokingly referred to as the Hooper Pooper. Sallin was on hand with fellow park board members Nyle Howsmon and Ernie Lundberg to watch the building's installation, which has been delayed multiple times over the past two years. Thomsoon Contracting of Libby built the facility after UBC Precast of Blackfoot, Idaho failed to deliver....
The Lincoln Rodeo Grounds once again played host to the Treasure State Cowboy Mounted Shooters Association as they brought the Northern Mountain Region Finals to town last weekend. Michael Emch, the president of the Treasure State CMSA, said the finals are the biggest competition of the year for them. It brought in riders from Washington, Idaho and Montana as well as Utah, Texas and even one or two from Canada. He said this is the first year they've brought the finals to...
Occupying their usual spot, just off the main loop in Hooper Park in a campsite among the trees, Leroy and Jean Cyrs' set up, with glittering Rada knives, jams, suspenders and sundry collectibles, is a familiar sight at the Lincoln Flea Market every year. Over the years, the Cyrs have seen trends change and flea markets come and go around the country, but in Lincoln they played a key role in bringing one back to life. Jesse Sallin and Pat Habets started the original Rummage an...
When the scoreboard at the Lincoln Gym shorted out during a Jan. 11 home game against Phillipsburg, Lincoln School Athletic Director Laura Bullis broke out a whiteboard to keep score. This summer, the Lincoln School Athletics Department is working to raise $5000 for the purchase of a new set of scoreboards and a controller. The total cost of the new system comes in at around $10,000, Bullis told the BVD. She explained that the scoreboards are old and cause quite a bit of...
Lincoln Public School is upgrading their main water line this summer, swapping out the old PVC water line pipe for newer, more durable HDPE pipe. School custodian Derek Perez said it's mainly a preventative maintenance measure. The school has been evaluating the options for improving the school's water system since February, after a fitting at the water pump broke in January and flooded the all-purpose building by the football field and caused roughly $50,000 in damage and...
Work at the Upper Blackfoot Mining Complex last week, nearly a year after the Montana Department of Environmental Quality suspended clean up efforts to determine, with the U.S. Forest Service and the Montana Natural Resource Damage Program, how to best use the $11 million remaining from the $39 million settlement with ASARCO in 2006. UBMC Construction Manager Shellie Haaland said Missouri River Contractors was awarded the contract for the removal and remediation work on the si...
After a quick trip to Missoula last Wednesday, Quinton Grantier headed back to Lincoln on Highway 200 . He was only a couple miles outside of Bonner when his dog, Junebug, jumped into his lap. As he tried to push her back into his truck's backseat, Grantier briefly took his eyes off the road. Ahead of him, another pickup was stopped, waiting to turn in to the Marco Flats Fishing Access. When Grantier looked up, he saw the other pickup but didn't have time to respond. "I hit...
The Blackfoot Valley Dispatch scored six awards in this year's annual Montana Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest. The BVD, a Division 1 publication with a circulation of less than 1250, picked up awards for news coverage, writing, page design and photography. Hope Quay earned the top honor for the paper with the papers only first place award. Her piece, "Swan Renaissance," detailing last year's return of a nesting pair of trumpeter swans to Smith Lake and their suc...
Just a few months ago, work on Rick Freeland's dream of a non-profit fitness and recreation center for Lincoln had just begun. Now, Freeland and his wife Patti have converted the dated mid-century building that once housed the First Bank of Lincoln into a sleek and modern gym facility. "I think we started work on March 10th," said Freeland, who opened the doors to the Power House in early June. It's a project he's been dreaming about for 20 years. Assisted by Patti, their...
Last week, the Trust for Public Lands held the last of three meetings aimed at designing a local trail system that makes walking and biking around Lincoln safer and more appealing. The trail planning effort stemmed from the LOR Foundation grant that also funded Envision Lincoln, and though it's a separate process, it's tied tightly to the vision for the community that was established in those meetings. As the Envision Lincoln organizational meetings drew to close, two of the t...
A Lewis and Clark County Deputy who stopped to check on two vehicles pulled onto the side of the road arrested a Lincoln woman late Thursday night, after discovering drugs and paraphernalia in her car. According to court documents, deputies charged Michelle Candace King, 37, with one felony count of possession of methamphetamine, two misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and one misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana. During the encounter, the second...
For two months this spring Lewis and Clark County road crews dealt with two rounds of flooding that took a toll on county roads. Although the water has subsided, County Public Works Director Eric Griffin told the BVD the damage it left behind and the time spent dealing with it will affect road maintenance projects throughout the county for the rest of the year. Recently, Griffin has been fielding calls from the Lincoln area residents concerned about roads being graded without...
When Patty and Bob Weatherston saw the Three Bears Motel listed for sale in a Craigslist ad, they saw both a business opportunity and a chance to move to a town they love. "For 30 years we've been coming up and visiting friends who have a cabin. We just loved it so much we didn't want to go back home," Patty said. "We found this opportunity and it's been great." The Weatherstons moved to Lincoln from Helena and took over ownership of the motel from Louanne and Kevin Minear at...
Fourth of July week signified three things this year: Our Nation's birthday, the official Montana start of summer and, this year especially, the official start of the fishing season for the Blackfoot Valley. With waters high and in flood stage an entire three months, they finally receded and cleared up enough by the first week of July to bring out the largest hatch of them all: the fishermen. The rivers have gone from barely a soul on them to, as reported to us just...
The 5th Annual Redneck Olympics...
Annie Allen has spent the past couple years developing the property around her home on Blackfoot River Ranch Road into an art exploration site, hosting classes and get together for artists, students and kids at her studio there. Last weekend, Allen's goal of making the site a spot to reflect and relax among art and nature took another step forward with the help of Jennifer Thompson, an artist, teacher and art therapist from Helena. With the help of Allen and several other...
In setting the annual budget for the Lincoln Rural Fire District last month, district trustees opted to commit $25,000 to the effort to make the districts in-town water pumping station operational. The station was built over a three-year period from October 2012, when the original well was dug, to November 2015, when the current pump was installed and brought online. Since then it has produced neither the water volume nor pressure necessary to improve firefighting...
The Lincoln Community Hall celebrated the historic building's hundredth year as the heart of Lincoln last weekend with entertainment, exhibits and activities that spanned two days and stretched from the Hall to Sculpture in the Wild. The celebration featured an eclectic series of events and activities spread throughout several locations. Classic cars, family friendly and educational booths, exhibits of historic and civic significance, a collection of oral histories from...
Lincoln's annual Fourth of July fireworks show got off the ground a little later than usual this year, after a new wireless digital firing system had difficulty syncing with the modules that set off the fireworks. The Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce invested in the new COBRA system in April to replace the worn and outdated firing system that was hardwired to the fireworks. "With the old system, basically we had to be with 100 feet of the show and it relied on manual timing...
