The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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Years back almost every ranch kept a "farm flock" of 100 – 200 ewes. They provided extra income from their wool and lambs, but could be a nuisance with their fence crawling ways and propensity to die when offered any opportunity. We got started in the business when a herder working on a ranch that ran thousands of sheep gave our father thirty orphan lambs. I don't know how our mother managed. She had at least four or five children then, none old enough to be much help, plus s...
This week I want to share some thoughts on how a person can change. But it is not change for changes’ sake, but how a person can change Biblically? How does a person adjust their thinking to match up with what God would have them think; or act or speak or live? I imagine most of us have heard that this “eternal life” God offers us is a gift. Unfortunately many reject this gift (Matthew 7: 13-14; John 3:16-21). If one does not have a sincere relationship with the Lord Jesus...
It seems that every other TV commercial is for auto insurance. “Save money on your car insurance by being a safe driver.” “Save here on auto insurance with just a few clicks.” State law requires us to carry auto insurance. But it doesn’t do enough to require that insurance companies are fair about how they price these policies for us. Those savings they promise aren’t as straightforward as the ads make it seem. The different rates you see when you compare companies has more to do with the ways insurance companies evaluate pe...
Some time ago I saw a photograph taken at the Helmville cemetery on the day they buried my great grandfather in 1922. In the picture there's a cottonwood sapling, maybe 10 feet high. Both the tree and my great grandfather are still there, but the cottonwood is 80 feet tall and about 3 feet at the butt. I'm sure the old man is part of that tree. Entering the family ranch, a person sees the corrals and the cow barn built before the 20th century. The first cabin still exists,...
I think I may have unwittingly traumatized my kid this weekend. She’s stoic, so it’s hard to tell, but I have the sneaking suspicion that I’ll be hearing about this incident over Thanksgiving dinner in about ten years. I’ll explain, but first I will ask you to not judge me too harshly. I think every parent or step-parent on earth has probably made a similar mistake at one time or another. You all remember that time your parents innocently popped Old Yeller or Watership Down into the VCR, right? Or, maybe they took your tw...
Well after almost one month of the New Year I imagine we all have failed in several or all of our New Year’s resolutions. It is very difficult to make changes. Old habitats die hard they say! For me that is most certainly true. A key aspect of failing to make changes in how we think, act, spend money, spend time or whatever the area is that concerns us, is that we go with the flow. By that I mean we fail to take a real and honest hard look in to our own lives. We keep doing w...
Dear Dietitian, I just read an article that said eating a high fiber diet helps prevent colon cancer, but other articles on this topic have said the opposite. This is frustrating and confusing! Can you help clear things up? Joe Dear Joe, Scientific studies are often confusing because the results are different. Before something becomes clear in science, it has to be tested several times in different cultures in different parts of the world. It must also be tested on men and...
***Editor's Note: At the request of Penny Martin, we are republishing a letter sent to 'The Montana Veteran' newspaper in January 1968 that was important her late husband Frank Martin.*** Dear Civilians, Friends, Draft Dodgers, etc. In the very near future the undersigned will once more be in your midst, dehydrated and demoralized, to take his place again as a human being with the well known forms of freedom and justice for all; engage in life, liberty, and the somewhat delayed pursuit of Happiness. In making your joyous...
To the Editor, In regard to Liz Cain's viewpoints in the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch, may I quote her? "As a teacher, I should be cautious about letting politics or religion into my class discussions." And "If you don't like my opinion that Trump is damaging our democracy, our allies, and the common man, just ask soybean farmers who have lost 80 percent of their sales to China." I will give you $100 if you can find the word democracy in the Constitution of the United States. It...
The Community of Lincoln has again amazed me. With the recent loss of my husband Alan, kindness, friendship, generosity, and love have flooded our lives. Without hesitation, countless individuals have stepped forward to make this horrible loss a bit more bearable. Manpower, desserts, and unconditional love made Alan's celebration of life, a day to remember. Thank you, Lincoln – Together "we got this!" Reg Heikkila and Family...
It's about 10 a.m. Monday morning as I write this, and things seem off kilter. The snowstorm that has finally blanketed Lincoln with much-needed snow continues outside, but something, or rather someone, is missing. It's at about this time on most Mondays that Bill Frisbee would stop in. Today, it would probably be to take a quick break from clearing parking lots of snow, but most times it was just to chat with my wife, Erin. Sometimes it was about projects or events they were...
Dear Readers, A few months ago, I wrote about the 2018 Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) outbreaks related to Romaine lettuce. The contaminated lettuce was eventually traced to farms in California and Arizona. Due to these outbreaks, 272 people became ill, 121 were hospitalized, and 5 people died. Recently, there have been voluntary recalls for possible E. Coli contamination, but this time with cauliflower, red leaf lettuce, and green leaf lettuce. None of the recalled produce...
It took me a long time to fully appreciate the differences between a rural upbringing and an urban upbringing. These differences are not especially manifest, but they exist. Montana has no large cities, so all its urban areas retain a bit of country influence. Some years ago the most common name for a bar in Montana towns was “STOCKMEN'S.” Until the 1970s, law mandated that children attend school in the county where their parents paid property taxes, so all the high sch...
It seems very odd to me that someone who doesn't seem to understand the English language would quote Shakespeare to support his narrow opinion of me. (Richard Debick 1/16/19) I will try this time to be as clear as possible: neither I, as a teacher, nor a pastor, as the leader of a diverse congregation, should present our opinions as truth in a school, a church, or a newspaper. This does not mean we can't have opinions. We just need to be aware that students, congregations,...
Thrift Store “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” Thank you for your wonderful donations and shopping with us. For the whole month of December, I wanted to help shoppers have fun and get whatever you wanted for $1.00 no matter what item. This was my way to say Merry Christmas!” A lot of you seem to be having a lot of fun shopping. We will be closed for 2 weeks to haul old items to Helena, Great Falls, and Missoula. It’s time to clean out and get in some new stuff. We will be looking for new or like new items, so clean things out and...
I got to know Bill when we served as co-chairmen of the Lincoln hospital district, which was during the design and construction of the new Clinic. That was the only board I have been on, but Bill Frisbee has served on about every committee, board of directors and group associated with Lincoln and the Upper Blackfoot Valley - I believe Bill woke up every day thinking of what he could do to improve his community. Bill's passing brings to mind the lyrics of a song I have been...
Our mother had four children under six years old in the house (two more came some years later,) a wringer washer, but no clothes dryer or dishwasher. Frozen foods came later, so every meal took a lot of work to prepare. That was the situation of most women sixty years ago, the number and ages of the children were the only variables. The world was divided into women's work and men's work. Our father was aware of the disparity, and would occasionally quote the old adage: “A m...
Despite having grown up surrounded by animals – or perhaps because of it – I am not a card-carrying member of the dog lover’s club. Before you rally a lynch mob, let me explain my position by saying that I was raised surrounded primarily by working dogs. I will admit that the line between working dog and pet was somewhat blurred in our household, but many of you who grew up on farms and ranches and would probably not dream of letting a dog onto your bed will certainly understand the difference. Loyal and intelligent as our c...
Wow, I must have really hit home. It took Liz Cain four really long columns to rebut my belief that Mr. Carroll was entitled to speak his opinions publicly. Personality I have always believed that " brevity is the soul of wit" ( Hamlet, act 2, scene 2.). For being an author she missed that point as well. Many, many men and women also complimented me on my opinion and I am not even an author! I even know people who believe they are artists because they have painted their...
Big Montana Hug and Thank you! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to our “Lincoln Community.” A big grateful thanks all who took a tag from the angel tree at the bank and did some shopping or helped in other ways. Also thank you for the food donations left at the bank and money to help with our Christmas Food Boxes. We helped 69 kids to have a very nice Christmas this year. We sent out 42 Christmas Food Boxes. This year we sent out 10 Thanksgiving Food Boxes at Thanksgiving. Last year we gave three boxes of cereal to eac...
My family and I would like to send a heartfelt Thank You to our wonderful community. From the cup of coffee and wonderful dinners so we could spend time with our kids, to monetary donations to make sure we had a great Christmas to restock and replace so many things, to help to move, all the laundry that was washed so we had smoke free clothes and offers of homes to stay in; from the Christmas gifts, firewood, cookies, and the help boarding up our house, to the rides to town...
Dear Readers, Now that the holidays are over and it's back to our normal routine, some of us may resolve to eat healthier in 2019. Many of us have overindulged in certain foods and have picked up a few pounds during the holiday season. For me, it was fudge and my great-grandmother's oatmeal cookies. When I finally mustered the courage to step on the scale, it unsympathetically revealed a four-pound weight gain. I'm hoping two of those pounds are just water. . . maybe? Not to...
I am a Christian minister with a different view than some of what I have been hearing locally. I do not seek any debate but I do feel compelled to write. The Bible is not at odds with our growing knowledge of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Society as a whole is unaware of biblical scholarship and of modern interpretations of the Bible. These understandings have developed during the last one hundred plus years. Mainline Christianity, including most Protestant...
According to Jennifer, the Lewis and Clark County animal control officer, there is no restraint or leash law in Lincoln. Your dog can be labeled vicious if it bites someone or as a nuisance for barking. You can be issued a citation. If you cannot prove your dog is current in it's vaccinations it can be quarantined for ten days at a $250.00 charge. Even though Lincoln has no restraint law for dogs there could be long lasting consequences for letting your dog run at large. I...
In the days following George H. W. Bush's death, it was impossible to ignore the mood that settled over much of the country: a yearning for the civility, dignity and inclusiveness that the former president represented. It was a form of bipartisan nostalgia for a time when the nation seemed to work. As we head toward 2019, it's equally hard to ignore the ground that this yearning sprang from: a deep-seated doubt that the system can work, and great worry that our democratic...