The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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Butte, Mont. – The winter weather gripping most of Montana will continue several more days, with some areas experiencing temperatures well into the negative double digits and some forecast to receive more than a foot of additional snowfall, according to the National Weather Service. Higher energy demand due to prolonged deep cold is reflected in higher customer bills. Customers can see the comparisons provided on their bill that displays usage patterns for the current billing...
If you've been around in the Blackfoot long enough, there's a good chance you've heard the words "Murphy right" or "Milltown right" thrown around. If you're an irrigator in the watershed, you've probably been affected by one or both of these instream water rights. Due to recent changes in water law, any surface water rights with a priority date junior to 1904 could be called in a drought year if flows in the Blackfoot River are low enough to warrant restrictions. Luckily,...
Jim Oly, who debuted his drumming for Lincoln on Dec. 6 - while dressed as Santa to spread some cheer - kept folks around parts of western Montana entertained with his musical endeavor and offbeat humor during the holidays. He returned to Lincoln for the encore performance as a benefit for the Lincoln Food Bank. During his two hour 'set,' a number of people stopped by, donating about 100 pounds of food, as well as some cash, for the Food Bank. Oly said the effort was in honor...
Fireweed, or Chamerion angustifolium, is a native species found throughout Canada and in the vast majority of the United States, except for southeastern states and Texas. A circumboreal plant, it can commonly be found in coniferous and mixed forests, in aspen parklands, and alongside snowberry, thimbleberry and juniper. The name fireweed comes from the plant's ability to quickly establish in areas burned by fire, appearing as soon as three months after a fire, according to...
In spite of a worldwide pandemic and all the associated changes to human life that have gone with it, I'm happy to report that our Trumpeter Swans have kept calm and carried on with normal swan life in the Blackfoot. Although we only had six pairs of swans attempt to nest this year (following eight attempts in 2019), five of those nests were successful, hatching a total of 20 cygnets. And all 20 cygnets survived to fledging (flying) age! One hundred percent fledging success...
Heidi Ressie opened Lincoln Leather and Fur Traders at 206 Main St. in Lincoln this past October and offers a wide variety of goods. An avid lifelong hunter and trapper, Ressie started selling furs out of her home a few years ago. "I grew up all my life around trapping and hunting, and it's just always been in my blood to do," said Ressie, who was raised on a farm. "I grew up with two brothers, so I was kind of a tomboy at the time." When Ressie first moved to Lincoln, she...
A few random photos that didn't make into print....
Insurance firm burns, smoke water damage newspaper office Lincoln's big news story of the week is going unreportedd at home because fire has temporarily delayed publication of the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch. Fire gutted Steve A. Stolp's accounting office, and heat, smoke and water heavily damaged the adjoining Dispatch newspaper office on the west end...
In our Nov. 26 issue, we looked at the murder of John Smoot, a man from Blackfoot city murdered in McClellan Gulch on Christmas eve, 1867. Blackfoot City is often referenced in the stories of Lincoln's early days, but we realized that not many people today may know much about it. It was an important hub for miners en route the the Upper Blackfoot, but by the turn of the 20th century, it had effectively faded from Montana's history. This story appeared in the Melstone...
A sizable group of people gathered east of Lincoln on New Years Day to take advantage of the warm weather for a bit of classic wintertime fun....
Heidi and Jim Agner have lived in Lincoln since 2013 and are the husband and wife duo behind Lincoln Gulch Engraving and Leatherworks. They live with their two dogs, Shep, a collie, and Sally, a springer spaniel. Heidi handles the leatherwork part of the business, and Jim does the en-graving, though they got their starts at different times. Heidi began working with soft leath-er over 30 years ago, she said, using deer skin and similar materials. She eventual-ly started...
Blackfoot Pathways Sculpture in the Wild looks forward to a full event season in 2021, after the cancellation and postponement of last year’s events and artists due to the COVID-19 pandemic. BSPW will welcome three artists in residence and one composer in residence to Lincoln this year. Three of the creators are based in Montana. Michael Brolly and Bently Spang had previously been selected for 2020, but their residencies were postponed due to the pandemic. Spang is a Montana artist and has shown work throughout North America,...
Bob Armstrong joined the National Guard as a junior in high school and served two years, before going on to serve two years in the Army and four more years in the reserve, half active and half inactive. Armstrong attended high school in Dickinson, ND and graduated in 1954. "They took our Guard unit that they had in town to Korea," said Armstrong. "When they did that, they started up a new unit there in Dickinson." Students had to get the permission of their parents to join ear...
Susan Good Geise ended her tenure on the Lewis and Clark County Commission Tuesday morning when Montana Attorney General Tom Fox swore in Tom Rolfe as the newest commissioner filling the District 2 seat she's vacating. Last week, Geise was looking ahead to the end of her time in office, and reflecting on her time with the commission. "Mostly what I am is profoundly grateful," she said. "Really, really grateful because I thought my time in politics was over. I had one last...
Think "Xmas" is a newly nefarious attempt to take Christ out of Christmas? Think again. According to From Adam's Apple to Xmas: An Essential Vocabulary Guide for the Politically Correct, "Christianity" was spelled "Xianity" as far back as 1100. X, or Chi, in Greek is the first letter of "Christ" and served as a symbolic stand-in. In 1551, the holiday was called "Xtemmas" but eventually shortened to "Xmas." In reality, Xmas is just as Christian as the longer version from...
Bob Armstrong played Santa Claus in Lincoln for 30 years, and while he has been retired from that position since 2014, many still think of him as the face of Christmas in Lincoln. Armstrong, who made a guest appearance in Lincoln as Santa in 2018, said this will be the first year since he started that he won't be a Santa at all. "He does miss it," said Armstrong's wife, Trudy. When asked how he got started, Armstrong said, "I think my build, probably more than anything. I was...
(MCC) The importance of shopping locally has been emphasized with increasing urgency in recent years. Events like Small Business Saturday and Plaid Friday have brought some much-needed attention to the importance of shopping local, which is even more crucial now as so many small businesses try to survive the pandemic. A poll from the trade group the National Federation of Independent Business reported that about half of all the businesses in the survey reported a 25 percent...
The snowberry, or Symphoricarpos albus, is a shrub and member of the Honeysuckle family. Snowberry can be found in well over half of the fifty states as well as in many parts of Canada. In Lincoln, snowberry can be found around town and throughout Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild. Snowberry is a native plant and is a forage plant for livestock as well as bighorn sheep, according to the Forest Service Fire Effects Information System. Snowberry shrubs can be easily...
"If we can come to a broad consensus, that has the potential to give us power. A new kind of power that will let us figure out that maybe we can affect some change. It may take decades, it may happen a long time after I'm gone, but it begins with the first step and that's what this is about." Paul Roos made that comment in the spring of 2014 while talking about community movement he had been spearheading since the year before. Paul passed away Nov. 10 after a short battle...
Although Santa's Workshop couldn't be held in its usual form at the Lincoln School gym, a group of volunteers joined the Lincoln Council for the Arts, American Legion Post 9 and Rick and Patty Freeland to make sure Lincoln kids could enjoy a semblance of the Lincoln holiday tradition. The Freelands donated hats, coats, boots and the use of the Powerhouse for the occasion. Post 9, a staple of the Workshop every year, provided treats and warm drinks in their trailer, while a...
Jim Oly, outfitted as Santa Claus, paid a visit to Lincoln Sunday afternoon, Dec. 6 for a little performance art to make a little noise and spread a little holiday cheer. Oly, who is always up for the challenge of making people smile, found the old drum in his storage unit and decided to build a makeshift drum kit that included plastic buckets, a frying pan and a vintage Tonka toy front end loader. Set up for a time in the Citizen's Alliance Bank parking lot, Oly's virtuoso...
Zach Muse enlisted in the Navy on Sep. 1, 1990 and served in navigation during Desert Storm as a Master Helmsman. He was also a Master of Arms during his time in the Navy. "I knew I was gonna go in the military," said Muse, "just cause everyone in my family goes. I'd flown over the ocean, but I'd never really been in the ocean or anything." Muse grew up in Great Falls and waited for the next round of boot camp to start after high school. "Once I got out of boot camp and my...
A massive lenticular cloud in the skies over the Lincoln Valley reflects the light of the setting sun Friday Nov. 27. The cloud provided and ever-changing display of colors throughout the evening....
On Dec. 5, 1980, a small, still unnamed newspaper began circulating in Lincoln. Sporting a series of question marks where the publication's name should be, the front page included the issue's only story - a message from the publishers - and a photo of a then-new Ponderosa Snow Warriors Clubhouse and information on the club's open house and Christmas dinner. The remainder of the issue was almost entirely advertisements, save for an announcement about the VFW Post 3669...
Tammy Jordan, owner of Goldieknots Montana, recently published an article on lace-weight spinning in the international magazine The Wheel, which is published out of New Zealand by Ashford Wheels & Looms. "I met Richard and Elizabeth Ashford last year at the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair," said Jordan, where she was teaching four classes. She met Richard at a food truck and stopped by later to chat with him and his wife Elizabeth. A long-time fan of Ashford Wheels, Jordan alre...
