The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
The Blackfoot Valley's News Source Since 1980
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The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Montana's pandemic-era law barring vaccine mandates and data collection may go into effect in health care settings, reversing a federal judge's injunction from 2022 after state attorneys appealed the case early last year. House Bill 702, which was already in place for many other private businesses and employment settings, prohibits employers from discriminating on the basis of a person's vaccination status. The law...
With some studies finding that home insurance rates have ballooned 44 percent in Montana over the past five years, the affordability and availability of insurance have become cornerstone issues in the state auditor election. James Brown, a Republican currently serving as president of Montana's utility board, is squaring off against John Repke, a Democrat and retired businessman, for the open seat to become Montana's top consumer watchdog. Whoever wins the election on Nov. 5...
Oct. 10, 2024 - In cooperation with Lewis and Clark County, the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) and Sletten Construction are replacing the Dalton Mountain Road Bridge over the Blackfoot River, 3 miles west of Lincoln. A detour is in place via Herrin Lake Road, Stemple Pass Road, and Montana Highway 200 (MT 200). Deck curing is underway. This week, crews are working on riprap placement, bridge end backfills, and preparing roadway approaches for the concrete pavement...
Sept. 19 - In cooperation with Lewis and Clark County, the Montana Department of Transportation and Sletten Construction are replacing the Dalton Mountain Road Bridge over the Blackfoot River, 3 miles west of Lincoln. A detour is in place via Herrin Lake Road, Stemple Pass Road, and Montana Highway 200. This week, the installation of the first two loads of steel trusses for the north and center spans is underway. This involves bolting the trusses and associated beams to the...
A state district court judge has issued a final order in a dispute over Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks' approach to elk management. Tenth Judicial District Court Judge Gregory Todd ruled Friday that FWP and the Fish and Wildlife Commission have considered the concerns of private landowners and managed for a sustainable elk population. The order dispenses with the last remaining claim United Property Owners of Montana raised in a lawsuit it filed against the state in 2022. UP...
Missoula, Mont., Sept. 10, 2024 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service's Northern Region announces investments of more than $8 million on two National Forests in Montana, in support of the Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program. These investments will be funded by hazardous fuels funds from the Inflation Reduction Act. CWRRP is designed to significantly reduce wildfire risk on National Forest Service lands outside of the 21 designated Wildfire Crisis...
According to a newly published roadmap from the Bureau of Land Management, about 572,000 acres of land in Montana have some baseline potential for utility-scale solar development, more than double the acreage the agency identified in the draft Environmental Impact Statement it released in January. The revised Western Solar Plan released in late August identifies 31 million acres of BLM-administered land that could be suitable for solar projects of five megawatts or greater...
According to a newly published roadmap from the Bureau of Land Management, about 572,000 acres of land in Montana have some baseline potential for utility-scale solar development, more than double the acreage the agency identified in the draft Environmental Impact Statement it released in January. The revised Western Solar Plan released in late August identifies 31 million acres of BLM-administered land that could be suitable for solar projects of five megawatts or greater...
HELENA – Attorney General Austin Knudsen is encouraging Montanans to be on high-alert and take measures to protect their identity following reports that billions of records, including social security numbers and other sensitive information, may have been compromised. According to reports, a hacking group USDoD allegedly stole personal records of 2.9 billion people and claims to be selling it online for millions. The data includes names, address histories, relatives, and S...
Helena MT – Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton has lifted evacuation warnings for the Black Mountain Fire near Lincoln, Montana. Under the evacuation warning, access to the area north of Highway 200 from Lone Point Drive to the east just past Stonewall Creek, north of Lone Point Drive and Tamarack Lane, north of North Lincoln Gulch/Morris Drive, north of the intersection of Beaver Creek Road and Stonewall Creek and all feeder roads north of that intersection had been r...
Helena, MT – With fire danger rising and to reduce the risk of human-caused fires, the Lewis and Clark County Board of Commissioners passed a resolution today to establish Stage 1 Fire Restrictions throughout the county. The resolution was recommended to the Commission by the Lewis and Clark County Rural Fire Council and Sheriff Leo C. Dutton, Fire Warden. Under STAGE 1 FIRE RESTRICTIONS, the following acts are prohibited until further notice: * Building, maintaining, a...
HELENA, Mont., July 19, 2024 – The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest will implement fire restrictions across the forest effective Saturday, July 20 at 8 a.m. MDT. Stage 1 restrictions will be enacted across the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. Under Stage 1 restrictions: Stove fires, campfires and charcoal fires are allowed ONLY at developed campgrounds and developed recreation sites where Forest Service metal fire rings are provided (see list of developed r...
Work to replace the Dalton Mountain Road Bridge is continuing. Sletten, the construction contractor, has removed the old bridge. Lewis and Clark County has graded the detour route, and Sletten applied magnesium chloride to control dust. Earlier this week, crews began building the contractor's work structure for the cranes and other equipment to utilize during construction. The first step, driving piles that will support the structure, is in progress and will continue into...
UPDATE: The fire buring in the Bear Gulch Area southwest of Lincoln had grown to an estimated 15-20 acres by midnight last night, July 14. According to Lincoln Fire Rescue , the fire is still actively burning. Firefighters are requesting that people stay off Herrin Lake and Dalton Mountain Roads if they don’t live in the area. People wanting to get a closer look at the fire by driving into the Bear Gulch area create a significant issues for firefighter and firefighting equipme...
Starting on July 8, the Montana Department of Transportation and Sletten Construction, in cooperation with Lewis and Clark County, will close the Dalton Mountain Road Bridge for demolition and reconstruction. During the closure, traffic will be detoured around the project site on Herrin Lake Road and Stemple Pass Road. The detour length is approximately 11 miles, bridge end to bridge end. Detour directions from the north side of the Dalton Mountain Road Bridge: Head north on D...
Gas prices, up several cents per gallon on average over the last week, could rise even more next week as AAA anticipates a record number of travelers will hit the road. Over 60 million drivers may be on the roads during the travel period around Independence Day this year (June 29 to July 7), a 4.8% jump from last year, according to the association's latest travel forecast. AAA noted that this is the first time it has included two weekends in the holiday's travel period. That r...
Discussing likely areas for future policy improvement in Montana's K-12 school system at a meeting in the state Capitol Monday, officials with the Office of Public Instruction highlighted teacher retention as a continued challenge across the state, noting that Montana public schools lost 2,039 educators to attrition during the 2021-22 academic year. According to the presentation, given by OPI Chief Operating Officer Julie Murgel during a meeting of key lawmakers and education...
HELENA – The Montana Department of Justice's Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) is receiving reports of fraudsters, posing as law enforcement, attempting to scam unsuspecting Montanans out of thousands of dollars by calling individuals claiming there is a warrant for their arrest because they missed jury duty. The scammers are directing individuals to go the bank, withdraw cash, and then deposit the funds into bitcoin machines or ATMs, such as Coinstar kiosks, and not to tell anyone what they are doing. The scammers also h...
Montanans can anticipate a generally normal fire season this summer, a regional fire weather forecaster reported at a Tuesday morning briefing in Bozeman. Dan Borsum, a Missoula-based forecaster with the Northern Rockies Coordinating Center, said springtime moisture has mitigated the impacts of a generally dismal winter snowpack in Montana. (Water supply forecasters noted in early January that half of their monitoring stations were reporting record-low accumulations due to an...
HELENA – Attorney General Austin Knudsen and the Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) are reminding drivers to stay safe on the road ahead of the holiday weekend and unofficial start of summer. Memorial Day weekend marks the beginning of the "100 Deadliest Days of Summer." State troopers will increase their presence on Montana roads and highways throughout the summer, cracking down on drunk and drugged drivers. MHP has already seen an increase in deaths and crashes compared to this t...
Helena, MT – Lewis and Clark County is actively updating its County Growth Policy and is thrilled with the ongoing community engagement! Over the past few weeks, we've hosted six successful open house events and had numerous insightful conversations. Now, to gather more perspectives from across the County, we're launching an exciting new online interactive map and survey. Why is this Important? The Growth Policy is a crucial document that articulates the County's goals and v...
The eastern congressional district candidate forum that the Yellowstone County Republicans hosted at their Lincoln Reagan Dinner in April was, by the standards of campaign-season political events, remarkable. But not because of emotional fireworks or raised voices or intra-party bickering. Those are all commonplace. What was remarkable, instead, was that in a sprawling Montana Republican Party with no shortage of internal divides, almost all of the eight Republicans vying for...
Montanans are increasingly reporting that their quality of life is declining, according to a recent University of Montana poll. Sixty-two percent of Montanans contacted by pollsters say their quality of life has gotten worse over the past five years. That's a seven-point increase compared to 2022 when the Crown of the Continent and Greater Yellowstone Initiative last put that question to likely Montana voters. "It's quite clear that residents all over the state - even out on t...
Growing populations and tourism in western Montana are straining aging roads, leaving state and local governments to fix problems or make improvements with limited funding, according to transportation officials. While development-driven infrastructure upgrades are nothing new, the Montana Department of Transportation is trying to keep afloat amid "explosive" growth around Missoula and Kalispell, said Joel Boucher, a state engineer for a nine-county district that includes...
The City of Helena/Lewis and Clark County Heritage Tourism Council (HTC) is recognizing National Historic Preservation Month with proclamations and a historic photo display. The Board of County Commissioners are scheduled to issue a Proclamation at their regular 9 a.m. Tuesday meeting on May 14. The Proclamation for the Helena City Commission is scheduled for 6 p.m., Monday, May 20. Both public meetings are in the Commission Chamber, room 330, on the third floor of the City-Co...
