The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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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...
This is my first report to you all, and I'd like to first express my appreciation for the warm welcome by the community. Thanks for those of you that have stopped by the office and those who have stopped me in the street to introduce yourself. I look forward to meeting more of you in the coming months. I'd like to report out a few key updates and speak to what the Lincoln Ranger District has been working on this past month. The current wildfire activity across Montana and the...
The Lincoln Arts & Music Festival is set to return Aug. 14 and 15 after a hiatus last year due to COVID-19. The event is scheduled to include music and other performances on Saturday and Sunday, alongside artists' booths, kids' activities and more. "We'll have three bands on Saturday," said Karyn Good, one of the event organizers, adding, "Music will go from 2-8 this year. Then on Sunday, we have two musical acts starting at 11 o'clock, and then our last act is a storyteller....
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...
Lincoln's annual Clothing Giveaway started Aug. 1 in the Lincoln Community Hall and had extended hours this year. Organizers are looking at ways to make the event even more accessible next year. Traditionally, the Clothing Giveaway was set up on Sunday and taken down on Thursday, giving people three days to shop. This year, organizers completed set-up on Saturday and were able to be fully open for visitors to shop starting Sunday and remained open through Friday. "We started...
Lincoln Public Schools won't be requiring students to wear masks when they return to school Aug. 23, but some of the COVID-19 protocols from last year remain. Superintendent Jen Packer discussed the school's protocols with the Lincoln School Board during at their Aug. 9 meeting. There is strong agreement among local state, county and federal agencies that students need to return to in person learning, but the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases related to the Delta Variant threw a...
It's been a while since we took a back at a few glimpses of Lincoln history. 1985 was the third annual Art in the Park, now known the Lincoln Arts & Music Festival. 80 years ago Heinie Opp's Inn in downtown Lincoln was a hopping joint. and 85 years ago, the search was on for a vacationer....
The Montana Independent Living Project, which provides a variety of services to promote independence for people living with disabilities in southwestern Montana, has recently started offering one-on-one services for residents in Lincoln. MILP independent living specialist Maria Stout plans to visit with Lincoln residents Aug. 12, first at the Lincoln Library, then at Leepers Motel. "I help people live independently in their communities by providing services with whatever they...
Gregory Alan DuRette, 59, of Ovando died on Saturday, July 24 in a motorcycle accident along Highway 200, west of Lincoln. Born on March 6, 1962 in Portland, Oregon, Greg was adopted by Hugh Richard and Arlene DuRette. Greg grew up in Eugene and Lincoln City, Oregon. He graduated from Lincoln City High School. He enlisted in the Navy and had an honorable discharge at the end of his four years, finishing out his military service with two years in the Navy Reserve. Greg was a... Full story
After forcing the cancellation of last year's Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild programs, COVID-19 is still affecting events planned for this year, through both ongoing concerns about transmission of the disease and an artist's backlog of commissions resulting from 2020's restrictions. While most of the schedule remains unchanged, circumstances led Bently Spang to push his residency back once more, into 2022. Spang, a Northern Cheyenne artist, was originally slated to...
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...
Two small lightning-caused fires near Rogers Pass, July 30, each about an acre in size, were knocked down quickly with water and retardant drops by aircraft. Although the fires were natural and not human caused, they served as a reminder of the high fire danger in the area and came the day before Stage 2 Fire restrictions went into effect throughout Lewis and Clark County at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 31. Based on the recommendation of the Rural Fire Council and Sheriff Leo...
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....
Work on a new bridge over Poorman creek, just below McClellan Gulch is well underway, with the project projected to be complete by about the second week of August. The new bridge replaces a culvert that proved to be undersized during high water and that hampered the migration of native bull trout and cutthroat trout that make their way up Poorman Creek from the Blackfoot River. The new bridge should also help the county with maintenance issues related to the culvert during...
This years Lincoln Airport open house and Barbecue served about 100 meals and saw about a dozen kids take part in Young Eagles flights. An anonymous donation covered the cost of the free event, with enough left over to help with maintenance and improvement to the airport. Next years fly in is slated for Saturday July 23, 2021...
Rayna Thompson opened Paws Inn Pet Boarding in Lincoln on June 7. "I used to babysit dogs around town here when I was in high school," said Thompson, who has worked in boarding kennels in Kalispell and Helena for over four years. When she returned to Lincoln, she decided to start her own. In addition to overnight boarding, Thompson offers bathing for dogs, including nail trims, as well as variety of day care services for different types of pets. The kennel includes a...
The Lincoln Telephone Company – now known as LincTel - welcomed community members to a public barbecue at Hooper Park Thursday Afternoon, July 22 to celebrate 100 years of telephone service to Lincoln. The laid-back celebration featured plenty of food and activities for the kids, and drew in guests throughout the afternoon. One hundred years ago, when many of the telephones in the state still used barbed wire fences to make calls, the Helena Commercial Club saw the value in r...
A motorcyclist from Ovando died in a single vehicle accident on highway 200 about seven miles west of Lincoln on Saturday evening, July 24. According to the Montana Highway Patrol fatality report, the 59-year-old man, who was not identified, was riding a 2012 Harley Davidson westbound a little after 6 p.m. He drifted off the right side of the road just beyond the Powell County line near mile marker 65. He went down into the ditch and up the other side, where the bike skidded,...
In the wake of a tragic grizzly attack that claimed the life of visiting cyclist Leah Lokan on July 6, Ovando has seen an outpouring of support as it makes plans to ensure nothing like that ever happens again. A retired registered nurse and an avid mountain biker, Lokan, 64, was eight days into a trip along a portion of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route with her sister Kim Lokan and a friend, Katie Boerner. Lokan opted to spend her night in Ovando in her tent, in a camping...
The environmental groups have caused a serious problem. Every time the Forest Service plans to remove the beetle killed trees while the trees are still good for lumber, the environmental groups get a lawsuit in court until the trees are no longer any good, then they drop the lawsuit. We now have deadfall on top of deadfall. It's no wonder bears are coming into town, they couldn't get to the berries if there were some. I watched a gentleman and a young lady on NBC News who...
I’m just returning from two back-to-back weekend shows where I taught and had a booth selling my fiber-wares. I’d forgotten how much work these shows are; in the preparing for them, traveling to them, setting up, breaking down, loading vehicles, unloading vehicles, reloading vehicles. What I didn’t forget, and what I was looking forward to more than anything, was connecting with people I hadn’t seen in over a year. Lincoln also had a very busy couple of weekends with the 4th-o...
The annual Hooper Park Flea Market returned to Lincoln last weekend with a near record-setting number of vendors booked. Forty-five of the 50 vendors booked for the sale showed up, according to event organizer Jill Sallin. This year was her first full year organizing the event. In 2019, she took over the event just a few weeks before it took place. Last year, the event was canceled due to COVID-19. The flea market was originally started by Jill's mother, Jesse Sallin. "I went...
Lincoln saw a busy, loud weekend as the 2021 Lincoln Bike Rally Came to town. Hundreds of bikers spent the weekend here enjoying concerts, poker runs and Lincolns bars, restaurants and businesses. The Bike Rally, hosted by the Tenacious Dames Riding Club, raised money for Lincoln School's POUNCE after school program. "It's been beyond anything we had imagined," Laurie Ricahrds at the Wheel Inn said. "It's been great for the entire town and I think everybody is having a great...
Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest instituted Stage 1 fire restrictions throughout the forest beginning Friday, July 9 at 12:01 a.m., with the exception of the Lincoln Ranger District north of Highway 200 and the Rocky Mountain Ranger District. "Drought conditions continue to worsen across the Forest, and the hot, dry, windy weather persists," according to a recent press release from the United States Forest Service. The fire restrictions are in place to "proactively...
Lincoln Fire Rescue responded to a car fire on Highway 200, a couple hundred yards east of Lone Point Road, Saturday afternoon July 10. No one was injured in the blaze, but a suspected fuel leak destroyed the Jeep Cherokee, which . was fully engulfed in flames by the time Lincoln Fire Chief Zach Muse arrived, just three minutes after receiving the page. Muse said the driver, who had only owned the vehicle for a couple days, was heading from Missoula to Great Falls with his...
