The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
Sorted by date Results 176 - 200 of 1092
Facing three candidates in Montana's conservative new eastern congressional district, Democrat Penny Ronning knows she's in an uphill battle, one she promises to "fight like hell" to win. Raised in Billings, where her father ran a diner and her mother worked for the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, she credits her working-class roots and her mother's example of government service for her candidacy. "What inspired me to run for this race was my mom was a career federal...
A proposed expansion of the Holland Lake Lodge near Condon has raised concerns not only about the historic lakeside resort but about the future of the secluded Swan Valley. Those concerns come as the U.S. Forest Service is wrapping up a public comment period about a Utah-based developer’s plan for the lodge and surrounding resort. While western Montana has experienced a huge spike in development in recent decades — and especially in the last few years in places like Missoula and the Flathead Valley — the quiet valley in the s... 
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HELENA - The Montana Public Service Commission unanimously agreed to allow a reduced interim rate increase for NorthWestern Energy on Tuesday. In its application for an interim increase in electric and natural gas utility rates pursuant to Montana law, NorthWestern Energy had asked for an increase in electric utility rates of $114.7 million and natural gas utility rates of $5.7 million. The average residential customer bill would have increased by $14 and $1.60 respectively....
BOISE – Public policy outcomes will improve for the citizens of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and the Inland Northwest with the launch of the Mountain States Policy Center, the nation's newest free-market research center. The organization has named Chris Cargill as its first President and CEO. Cargill has more than 20 years' experience in communications and free market policy, most recently as the Eastern Washington director for the Washington Policy Center. "The Mountain States are...
6 has been a rough year here at the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch so when the 'Newspaper Office' sign blew off our building at the end of July, it seemed kind of like an omen. By now the rumors have probably made the rounds around town that the BVD is closing. A couple of weeks ago that was the plan. But that changed last week. Well, sort of. After our Sept. 22 issue, the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch will end print publication, but we plan to keep the paper alive on our website...
Great Falls - The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) would like to announce and invite the public to comment on a proposal to improve approximately eight miles of MT 200, east of Lincoln. The project begins between 4x4 Rd and Abe Lincoln Rd, and extends northeast ending past the MT 200/Flesher Pass intersection. Proposed work involves new centerline asphalt, full width crack seal and chip seal, and new pavement markings. The purpose of the project is to extend the...
Well, this is it. The final print issue of the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch. From now on the BVD will be keeping Lincoln up to date at www.blackfootvalleydispatch.com, and since we're online we've done away with subscriptions. Our content is now available on the website with a free registration. I know our decision to move to online-only publication isn't popular with everyone, particularly those of you who don't have a computer or just prefer not to be online. As I've said...
SEPT. 9 – The Arrastra Fire is burning in dead and down timber north of Helmville by Trapper Mountain on the Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forest. The fire is 11.75 acres, 0% contained, and under Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation wildland fire protection. Reported on Tuesday, September 6, the fire was caused by lightning and aggressive suppression from the air was employed initially. Aviation use on Wednesday also helped to keep fire growth minimal from t...
Butte, Mont., Sioux Falls, S.D. – Sept. 8, 2022 – NorthWestern Energy customers have reported more than 400 attempts by scammers to steal their money since Sept. 1. The criminals are calling from spoofed phone numbers with state area codes and local prefixes. Customers say the scammers threaten to disconnect service in 30 minutes unless an immediate payment is made. Energy companies will never threaten their customers. Accounts with past-due balances received multiple not...
This story is excerpted from the MT Lowdown, a weekly newsletter digest that showcases a more personal side of Montana Free Press’ reporting. There’s a theory I hear often while reporting stories on Montana’s population growth: That many of the new arrivals flooding into the state are making their relocation decisions based on political identity — conservative arrivals flocking to reliably red areas where they can find neighbors with shared values, and liberals gravitating to the state’s blue urban cores.... Website
August 17, 2022, Helena, Mont. – As the Labor Day weekend approaches, the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office, Helena Police Department, East Helena Police Department, and the Montana Highway Patrol are encouraging Montanans to plan for a sober ride home before celebrating. Labor Day weekend marks the tail end of the "100 Deadliest Days of Summer" for traffic safety in Montana, all law enforcement will be increasing patrols across the state and making DUI arrests to e...
HELENA – Anti-drug task forces in Montana are on pace to triple last year's record-shattering fentanyl seizures and have already taken 58 times more fentanyl off the streets this year than in all of 2019, Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced today. Fentanyl-linked deaths, opioid overdose 911 calls requiring emergency services, and firearms found alongside illegal drugs are also on the rise this year. Through June 30, Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (...
Helena, MT – The Lewis and Clark County Board of Commissioners has announced American Rescue Plan Act awards to 40 diverse community and County department projects addressing service and infrastructure needs in Lewis and Clark County. "We are pleased with the breadth and quality of the projects this ARPA funding will support across the County," said Lewis and Clark County Commissioner Jim McCormick. "It was our goal to select projects with a broad effect on community needs w...
"The future of the Chamber is at a tipping point," Lincoln Valley Chamber of Commerce President Laurie Welty told the BVD last week. During the chamber's Aug. 11 board meeting, Welty announced that, unless something changes, the LVCC will be without a board of directors early next year. "By February of 2023 when we vote the board members in, there will be no active members on the chamber (board). The chamber can't function without a minimum of three. The bylaws say we can...
Chip sealing of the streets in both the Lincoln and Lambkin's Rural Improvement Districts is scheduled for Aug. 16 – 17. Lewis and Clark Public Works director Jenny Chambers reported at Lincoln Government Day that crews have completed pothole patching on the streets in town in advance of the surface preservation project. Additionally, the corner near the Hotel Lincoln, which was little more than a mass of potholes, has been blade patched to improve drainage. Chambers said t...
The Wheel Inn marks is 75th year with a change in ownership. Shea and Melissa Forkan took over ownership of the historic tavern two weeks ago after four months of wading through red tape and the state's bureaucracy to meet the requirements for buying the tavern. The Forkans signed the final paperwork Thursday, July 28, taking over the bar from Doug and Laurie Richards, who owned it for 33 years. Given the long-term success of the Wheel Inn under the Richards tenure, the...
After nearly 10 years publishing the Seeley Swan Path finder in Seeley Lake, Andi and Nathan Bourne sold the newspaper to brothers Jesse and Lloyd Mullen, owners of Ponderosa Publications. The newspaper will be managed by the Mullen Newspaper Company, with Andi staying on as editor during the transition, which they hope to have completed by Sept. 1. "After nearly 10 years, we recognized that we had taken the Pathfinder as far as we could and were getting burned out," Nathan said in the Pathfinder article on the sale. "We...
At the end of June, the Lewis and Clark County Commission approved a $55,000 request from the Lincoln Rural Fire District to use funds allocated to the county through the American Rescue Plan Act to develop a water filling station at Hooper Park. The proposal called for creating a pumping and filling station at the park, which has a wellhead near the main parking lot. The plan for the filling station, which Lewis and Clark County Public Works has the lead on implementing, would include a buried pressure tank and use the...
For the last month or so, the open lot just east of Stonewall Storage has been the site of some conspicuous activity as work got underway for a new branch location for Ox and Son Towing & Recovery. With the Great Falls-based company doing plenty of business in the area, Ox and Son has been working toward developing a location in Lincoln for nearly four months. "It looks like we'll be opening probably within the next month," said Jennifer Klinker, owner of Ox and Son, and wife...
HELENA, Mont.- Montana VA Health Care System (Montana VA) encourages all Montana Veterans and non-Veterans to share the news -- the Veterans Crisis Line is adding a new number. Beginning July, 16, 2022, Veterans and their loved ones will be able to dial 988 then Press 1 to reach the caring, qualified responders at the Veterans Crisis Line, 24/7. Even after the new number launches, Veterans will still be able to call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Ch...
Joe And Tammy Haas and their family jumped into the restaurant business with both feet this month. The couple re-opened Bushwackers restaurant and bar in time for the July Fourth weekend, with the Lincoln Bike Rally following the next week. "It was kind of a crazy first two weeks," Tammy said. The couple have been in Lincoln for just over a year, but their journey to becoming Lincoln's newest restaurant owners began in 2020, with a desire to expand their laser engraving...
Lincoln American Legion Post 9 saw six of the flags that they put out during every holiday stolen over the Independence Day weekend. Dawn Charron said one of the flags was taken at 12:28 a.m. July 2. Another five were stolen after midnight on the morning of July 4. Charron said a group of people waving the flags and 'sword fighting' with them were picked up on a security camera at about 12:45 a.m. heading west toward the Wheel Inn. The flags were taken from the corner of...
This year's Lincoln Bike Rally was "busier than ever," according to Tina Bundtrock, the national event coordinator for the Tenacious Dames Riding Club, which has organized the rally since 2019. "We had more turnout for our poker run this year than the last couple years." Bundtrock said. The town's 7th rally last weekend brought riders from around Montana as well as Canada, Washington, Oregon and one rider from as far away as Durango, Colo. "In my opinion, she wins the award...
Earl James LaRoque, 85, of Lincoln, Mont. passed away Thursday, June 23, 2022, at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula. He was born Jan. 7, 1937 in Poplar, Mont. to Albert J. and Victoria (Foster) LaRoque. At the young age of 13, he started working and never quit. He worked many different jobs, including the oil rigs in North Dakota and the Fort Peck Dam during construction. Earl met Sandra Nelson, the love of his life, when he was about 15 and never quit chasing her. In 1966, Ear...
