The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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With the celebration of Mother's Day in May and Father's Day in June, Lincoln residents can look forward to the birth of ungulate babies during those same months. White-tailed deer, elk, and moose, which all range in the Lincoln area, give birth to fawns and calves in late May and early June. Deer fawns and elk calves are both born with spots, while moose calves are solid-colored at birth. The Montana range of white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, covers the entire state...
"There's a lot going on, for sure, but I'm excited," Rob Gump, the new Lincoln District Ranger, told the BVD last Wednesday. Gump, a U.S. Forest Service veteran, took over from Acting Ranger Tory Kendrick last week and is still settling into the job, and he's looking forward to getting to know both the district and the community of Lincoln. "Lincoln is...from the Forest Service side, a quintessential district. It's that place that has all those things you really enjoy working...
The image of an unidentified young girl getting a hand with her shoes during the Boot Race at last summer's Lincoln Rodeo by BVD Editor Roger Dey earned first place in the Montana Newspaper Association's 2021 Better Newspaper Contest Division 1 Feature Photo category. It was also selected as the Mel Ruder Photograph of the Year. The award marks the second time judges selected a BVD photo as Photograph of the Year. In the 2019 Better Newspaper Contest, judges selected an image...
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...
Local artist Annie Allen Clark's book, "Undulating La Roux," is due out this December from Sweetgrass Books, a division of Montana's Farcountry Press. "Undulating La Roux" will feature a variety of characters and quotes and is an all ages book, said Clark, who noted there are no swear words, and that kids will love the illustrations. "The characters from the book came from morning meditation journals that I have many, many of. Trace and I often talked about the fact that they...
This year, with COVID-19 restrictions lifted across Montana, the Fourth of July events returned to communities across the state this weekend, but the competition didn’t seem to do much to dampen Lincoln’s busiest weekend. Although there is no confirmed count of the number of visitors who arrived in town for the annual Independence Day Parade, which coincides with the first day of the Lincoln Rodeo, downtown Lincoln was awash with visitors, who lined Main Street from First Ave...
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...
Gary Roberson, who taught history for Lincoln Schools, retired this year after about 15 years with the district. "I started back in 1992, and I worked close to ten years," said Roberson. "I went back to Virginia to help take care of my parents. Then we came back again, and I've been teaching these last five years." In addition to Montana history, U.S. history and world history, Roberson taught psychology, geography and government. He said he probably enjoyed Montana history...
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...
A pair of rufous hummingbirds harass a female calliope hummingbird as they compete over a feeder near Lincoln last week. The hummingbirds represent two of the three species that spend their summers in Montana. Though there wasn't a black-chinned hummingbird to be seen, up to eight rufous and calliope hummingbirds frequented the feeder....
For the last 18 years, Lincoln resident and pilot Jerry Cain has hosted an annual fly-in barbecue / potluck at his Lincoln Airport hangar for Montana and out-of-state pilots to enjoy. For the last five years (2020 canceled due to COVID) and continuing this year under the sponsorship of the newly formed public charity Lincoln Airport Foundation, there will be a Community Airport Open House and Fly-in BBQ Potluck to which the public is invited at no charge, to become familiar...
Helen Christine ("Chris") McInally of Lincoln, who taught music to students in Lincoln and throughout Montana for more than 50 years, died of natural causes Tuesday, June 29, in St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula. She was 89. She was born on May 15, 1932 in Los Angeles to Charles and Helen Fox. Charles served in the U.S. Navy , so the family lived in places such as Coronado, California and Groton, Connecticut. She graduated in 1950 from Coronado High School, where she was in...
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...
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....
A recent white paper published by the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and Heart of the Rockies Initiative features Lincoln as a case study for ways rural communities and conservation organizations can work together to accomplish shared goals. Published in May, "How Conservation and Recreation Groups Can Support Rural Communities" showcases four different rural western communities, including Aberdeen, S.D,.Montrose, Colo. and southeast Alaska. Erin Farris-Olsen,...
As summer returns to Lincoln, so, too, do off-highway vehicles. Proper operation of OHVs, particularly in town, can help ensure the safety of kids, pedestrians and others sharing the highway. For residents and visitors alike, rules governing OHV use can be confusing, with the laws set out in the Montana Code Annotated. Additionally, depending on where the vehicle is being used and the age of the operator, the requirements to safely and legally drive an OHV can vary. OHVs are...
Correction - June 17 issue: The dates listed in the Lincoln summer events article published June 17 had the wrong dates listed for the Lincoln Flea Market. The dates should have been July 16-18. (This correction was reflected in an update to the original story on our website) Corrections - April 22 issue: Back on April 22 we published an article “Lincoln Airport looking ahead to new equipment, possibilities” on improvements to the Lincoln airports, including the addition of weather cameras. We recently discovered that we fail...
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...
Envision Lincoln and the Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce have been working with Lewis and Clark County and the Montana Business Assistance Connection to develop a comprehensive master plan for Lincoln. Earlier this month, Lewis and Clark County approved a request for proposals for development of a comprehensive master plan. The RFP will go out for bid to professional consultants who have experience in master planning for rural communities like Lincoln. But just what is a...
In recent weeks I’ve had a lot of people ask me where I come up with the ideas for this column. Usually, my response is something to the effect of “just things I think about,” or “the things in my head.” Some are perplexed that there could be that many things I things I think about on a regular basis. Others, like my other half and those who know me pretty well, will often joke that they would never want to be in my head, and regard it as a bit of a scary place. Fortunately fo...
A semi carrying a load of building materials on a flatbed trailer tipped over near Roger's Pass Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Jeff Groschelle said the flatbed truck was traveling too fast as it entered the first big corner east of the pass, tipped over and spilled its load of building materials. "A lot of people misjudge that corner," Groschelle said. Lincoln Fire Chief Zach Muse said most of the material - a type of fiber cement board called Hardie Board - wound up in the...
