The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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LINCOLN - Lewis and Clark County deputies arrested a Lincoln man Tuesday morning, March 2, and charged him with two counts of assault with a weapon after an extended standoff at his home along Highway 200, four-and-a-half miles west of Lincoln. Gregory Scheele, 60, surrendered peacefully to deputies at 11:30 a.m. after about four-and-a-half hours. The standoff led to the closure of Highway 200 for about three hours as Sheriff's Office personnel negotiated with Scheele to... Full story
Helena - The Montana Discovery Foundation and the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest are looking for 1 (one) field instructor and 7 (seven) incoming high school students who love the outdoors-or are curious about the outdoor-based jobs-to apply to the 2021 Youth Forest Monitoring Program (YFMP). "Students gain a great deal of confidence collecting data in the field and presenting their recommendations to our forest managers," said YFMP Program Leader Liz Burke. "Our 2020...
Helena – First dose Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations for individuals in all tiers of Phase 1b will begin with two clinics next week. Those in Phase 1b include American Indians or other persons of color aged 16 years and older regardless of medical condition; persons aged 16-69 years with high-risk medical conditions; and anyone aged 70 years and older. Those eligible MUST reside in Lewis and Clark County. Pre-registration is required. All Phase 1b clinics are also open to i...
Lincoln Prosperity During last week's Upper Blackfoot Valley Community Council meeting, the council heard from Jordan Reeves of the Wilderness Society on the status of the Lincoln Prosperity Proposal, which was developed by a diverse group of local and area individuals and groups who agreed "the status quo isn't working" when it comes to forest management on the federal land surrounding Lincoln. The work of the Lincoln Prosperity Group is poised to take a major step forward...
Helena -Lewis & Clark Library is proud to add laptop/mobile hotspot kits to our Library of Things checkout collection. Beginning this week, the Augusta, East Helena, Lincoln and Main Branch of the Lewis & Clark Library will have a ChromeBook/HotSpot combo and a HP/HotSpot combo available for 14 day checkout. Each Branch will have two kits available for checkout. "We are excited to offer laptop checkouts for our patrons for use for school, taxes, vaccination signups and more,"...
Montana Constitutional Amendment would Establish Protections for Electronic Messages The Montana Legislature is considering a bill proponents say will offer increased clarity and protections for privacy in the digital age. Senate Bill 203, sponsored by Sen. Kenneth Bogner, R-Miles City, seeks to ask voters to amend Montana's Constitution to add language to Article II, Section 11 that would explicitly protect electronic data and communications from illegal searches and...
Two new emergency response vehicles have been turning heads in Lincoln in the last week. Taking advantage of a grant program using CARES Act funding to respond to public health needs, Lincoln Volunteer Fire Rescue purchased and outfitted two new Dodge pickups for use as immediate response vehicles. "It was 100 percent grant. No local funding was used for it," said Aaron Birkholz, the LVFR EMS manager. The new vehicles replace two older Ford Excursions that served as the...
The Lincoln Volunteer Ambulance and Lincoln Fire Rescue responded to a snowmobile accident about a mile east of the Ponderosa Snow Warriors clubhouse on Sucker Creek Road Saturday evening. A middle-aged woman riding a snowmobile missed a corner on the trail, went over an embankment and hit a tree about 15 yards down the hill. Aaron Birkholz with the Lincoln Volunteer Ambulance said she had been wearing a helmet, but nevertheless sustained potentially life-threatening injuries....
Look What's Law: Governor Signs Bill Reducing COVID-19 Liability, Rolls Back Mask Mandate Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has signed into law a major COVID-19 liability bill, which soared through the Montana Legislature during its first month. Senate Bill 65, sponsored by Sen. Steve Fitzpatrick, R-Great Falls, greatly reduces the extent to which businesses, healthcare professionals, and manufacturers of personal protective equipment are liable for harm related to COVID-19. The...
Casey Olson has been on a drill rig since 1991. Back then, Olson worked at a mineral exploration company, and though the work was “break-back,” learning the equipment wasn’t too difficult. Fast forward thirty years later, he’s now running Rabco Services as an independent well drilling contractor in Columbia Falls and Olson says the technology is rapidly outpacing the knowledge of new workers, which are hard enough to find as it is. “We’re trying to target younger guys, we ta...
SEELEY LAKE – In response to public feedback, the Lolo National Forest is extending the public comment period for the North Fork Blackfoot River Native Fish Restoration Project for an additional 30 days or through March 12, 2021. Located in the Scapegoat Wilderness on the Seeley Lake and Lincoln Ranger Districts in Powell and Lewis and Clark counties, the project would authorize Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) to implement fish management and stocking actions within t...
Governor Greg Gianforte last week announced his order allowing the statewide mask mandate that has been in place since July 15 to expire, but a mask order remains in effect for Lewis and Clark County. Under Executive Order 2-2021, Gianforte encouraged Montanans to continue to wear masks but highlighted personal responsibility as the best tool to combat the spread of COVID-19. However, state law allows local jurisdictions to enforce health directives that are stricter than thos... Full story
A public access easement agreement approved by the Lewis and Clark County Commission during the Feb. 5 Lincoln Government Day brought an end to questions about access to National Forest land using Stonewall Creek Road. Concerns about use of the road emerged in 2018 following the installation of two gates on the road where they crossed onto private property in the Parlin Park area three and a half miles northwest of Lincoln. Crystal Ness, the county development services...
A Great Falls man was killed Monday night, Feb. 1 while walking down Highway 200 west of Lincoln. According to the Montana Highway Patrol, the man was walking westbound in the middle of the westbound lane of Highway 200, near the intersection of Beaver Creek Road, when he was hit by a westbound Dodge pickup driven by a 66-year old Lincoln man. Lewis and Clark County Sheriff/Coroner Leo Dutton identified the victim as Forrest William Deaton, 42. He was pronounced dead at the...
Helena – Lewis and Clark Public Health has lowered quarantine times for individuals exposed to COVID-19 to 10 days. This quarantine times will match guidance from the CDC release on December 2, 2020. The change to quarantine time is effective immediately. The changes come after the number of COVID-19 positive cases has fallen in recent weeks in Lewis and Clark County. This fall has allowed our contact tracing team to resume full contact tracing and the ability to contact e...
Bills Aim to Reduce Prescription Drug Costs in Montana A House committee tabled a bill in the Montana Legislature that would have limited copays for insulin to $35 for a month's supply after it drew support from families and healthcare providers who say the price of the drug has become otherwise unaffordable. Rep. Jessica Karjala, D-Billings, presented House Bill 222 to members of the House Human Services Committee on Monday, Feb. 1. "The bottom line is that the price of insul...
Undeterred by a snowstorm, Lincoln senior citizens took advantage of the mobile COVID-19 vaccination clinic that came to Lincoln Friday, Feb. 8 for the first dose of the two-dose series Pfizer vaccine. Lewis and Clark Public Health and PureView Health Center planned and announced the drive through clinic Tuesday, Feb. 2 after the county received its shipment of vaccine and determined they had received enough to provide 100 doses for a clinic in Lincoln. "It went really well....
With COVID-19 vaccine still in comparatively short supply in Montana, it's unclear when mobile vaccine clinics may be dispatched to Lincoln or other outlying communities in Lewis and Clark County.* (Editors note: The county receives vaccine allocation information Tuesday morning. On the morning of Feb. 2 they had received enough to conduct a mobile vaccine clinic in Lincoln at the Lincoln Fire Hall Feb. 5 for Lewis and Clark County residents. The information wasn't available...
HELENA -- The COVID-19 pandemic brought a flood of new orders and guidelines from local health departments for businesses across Montana, including particularly tricky ones for owners and employees on mask use. Jim Edwards, the owner of Pattee Creek Market in Missoula said his business adapted, putting up plastic screens and increasing cleaning. But, he said ordering his employees to enforce a mask mandate for his customers crossed a line. "It's not a $12-per-hour checker's...
The Lincoln Ranger District is losing another familiar face in February as Natural Resource Specialist Josh Lattin moves on to a similar position with the Pintler Ranger District on the Beaverhead-Deer Lodge National Forest. Lattin, who has managed the Lincoln Ranger District's recreations program since the late spring of 2014, is set to begin work in Philipsburg Feb. 16. Although he would like to stay in Lincoln, Lattin said he applied for the new job to help advance his...
Gov. Gianforte Promises a "Montana Comeback" in First State of the State Address Gov. Greg Gianforte, the first Republican governor in 16 years in Montana, praised a "resilient" Montana and outlined his plans for tax relief, job growth and addiction recovery support in his State of the State address at the Montana State Capitol Thursday, Jan. 28. Gianforte spoke to more than a hundred state representatives, senators and guests in the House chamber, and opened with praise for...
Anti-Transgender Bills Draw Opponents Lawmakers have advanced two measures aimed at banning transgender women and girls from playing women's sports and blocking transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming treatment after facing a storm of opposition from concerned citizens, parents, businesses and medical organizations. Rep. John Fuller, R-Whitefish, sponsored House Bill 112, also called the "Save Women's Sports Act." The bill would require transgender women and girls...
Lewis and Clark County Public Works told the Upper Blackfoot Valley Community Council they favor pushing back a planned chip sealing project for Lincoln streets until 2022, to provide time for public meetings and feedback after COVID-19 restrictions ease up later this year. The discussion dominated the Jan. 19 meeting, which provided the first opportunity to dig into the details of the maintenance project that was slated for this year. The streets on Lincoln's, Lincoln and...
Tense Standoff Between Legislators Disrupts First Gun Bill Debate in Montana House The Montana Senate will now consider a bill that would greatly expand where concealed weapons can be carried in Montana after the House of Representatives passed House Bill 102 along party lines. The debate over the bill briefly ground to a halt last week as one lawmaker shut down another's comments as a violation of decorum. Members of the Montana House of Representatives were debating HB 102...
Strong winds that tore through western Montana last week up trees, damaged buildings and led to power outages throughout the Upper Blackfoot. An extended period of abnormally strong, gusty wind began Jan. 12 and intensified throughout much of the day Jan. 13, with peak wind gusts recorded in the early afternoon Wednesday. The weather station at the Lincoln Ranger District, near the Lincoln airport, reported a peak wind gust of 41 miles per hour at about 2 p.m. The reading was...
