Year in Review 2010: Soccer title, election, holidays
OCTOBER
• Hundreds of veterans gathered in Libby for the annual Stand Down on Oct. 2-3.
• The Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Libby Clinic hosted a reception to celebrate their partnership in bringing expanded health-care services to the region.
• City of Libby officials responded to a five-year inspection report which questions the integrity of Flower Creek Dam, a structure that dates back to 1946.
• Tim Harcourt, Kathy Lauer and Kaya Hardgrove each won first-place honors in the annual Heritage Museum Chili Cook-off.
• Bridge manufacturer Stinger Welding announced plans to add at least 55 employees to its Libby workforce in the coming months. Stinger’s new facility was on schedule to be completed by March.
• A road widening project on Kootenai River Road – complete with rock blasting – was completed to increase safety around what had been a problematic corner.
• Libby High School crowned its homecoming royalty with Alex Cislo as king and Chelsea Ahart as queen.
• Candidates for various offices made the rounds in the public arena in preparation for the general election.
• The Libby School board on Oct. 18 approved a resolution to ask voters in a February mail ballot election for permission to issue $12 million in bonds to pay for the school consolidation project.
• St. John’s Lutheran Hospital’s Bill Patten estimated construction on the new hospital to begin in April.
• The Troy City Council and Mayor Don Banning continued to clash during public meetings. The council ended its Oct. 20 meeting early after the mayor refused to allow a vote on a resolution to establish an alley maintenance schedule.
• Emergency response personnel gathered in Libby on Oct. 23 to train on how to handle a train wreck with hazardous materials.
• The Libby High School football team lost in the first round of the Class A state playoffs on Oct. 29 with a 19-14 loss to Stevensville.
• The Libby High School boys soccer team defeated Belgrade, 2-0, on Oct. 30 to win the Class A state championship.
• The Troy High School football team lost in the first round of the Class B state playoffs on Oct. 30 with a 22-12 loss to Superior.
• The Center for Asbestos Related Disease and the University of Cincinnati announced that they are teaming up to try to locate 600 people who participated in health screenings in Libby a decade earlier for a follow-up study.
NOVEMBER
• Roby Bowe of Libby garnered 67.35 percent of the vote to defeat Rex Nichols of Eureka for Lincoln County sheriff in the Nov. 2 general election.
• Ron Downey of Troy won 55 percent of the vote to defeat Darren Coldwell for Lincoln County commissioner in the Nov. 2 election.
• Jim Wheelis defeated Robert Slomski by a 6-to-4 margin in the election to take over the district court judge’s seat from the retiring Michael Prezeau.
• Jerry Bennett of Libby and Mike Cuffe of Eureka each won state representative seats in the election with considerable victories.
• Stormy Langston of Eureka beat out Steve Romano for the Lincoln County justice of the peace No. 2 position by attracting nearly 60 percent of the vote.
• Montana voters passed a measure on Election Day to abolish approximately 7,800 outfitter-sponsored hunting licenses. The issue was important to many locals who had relied on income from out-of-state hunters.
• Libby City Council responded to the discovery that a medical marijuana clinic’s business license had been approved. The Helping Center of Libby opened on Oct. 15 after a license application included “pain clinic” for type of business.
• James Carr of Troy was arrested on felony assault charges after allegedly pointing a gun at a train conductor and threatening to shoot him after blocking an intersection.
• Roby Bowe, incoming Lincoln County sheriff, announced that he was leaning toward the appointment of Brent Faulkner as the undersheriff.
• Lincoln County and the Environmental Protection Agency had discussions over the cost of disposing asbestos-contaminated material.
• Libby native Angie Haas-Tennison was informed by a national hunting contest that she was a top 10 finalist. She was later announced as the winner of a hunting trip to New Zealand that is to be televised by an outdoors network.
• The eighth annual Kootenai River Rhythm concert entertains a big crowd at the Memorial Center.
• Construction work began on upgrades to McGillivray campground near Libby Dam.
• Police arrested Randal Johns, 44, on a felony theft charge for allegedly taking a bank bag of valuable gold coins from a safe at a Libby jewelry store.
• Libby received its first snowfall over the night of Oct. 16-17.
• Linda Ellett-Fee took over as the new district ranger at the Three Rivers Ranger District in Troy.
• Wildlife officials investigated the shooting death of a grizzly bear on a trail along Pine Creek Road near Troy.
• Big-game hunters got off to a slow start for the general season but the numbers improved with each passing week. Colder weather and the rut were believed to be factors. The number of hunters at the Canoe Gulch check station was down approximately 25 percent.
• Adam Stindt, a 15-year-old boy from Troy, was rescued in the early morning hours of Nov. 28 after getting lost on a hunting excursion in the Yaak River vicinity.
DECEMBER
• The Environmental Protection Agency announced changes to its Libby site team. Libby Faulk took over for Ted Linnert as community involvement coordinator. Rebecca Thomas and Christina Progess also assumed responsibility of overseeing work in the Superfund site’s Operable Unit 4 in place of Bonnie Lavelle.
• An informational meeting on the Libby School Board’s campus consolidation and bond issue plans experienced a low turnout.
• Jim Martin, Environmental Protection Agency Region 8 administrator, fielded questions from various officials and the public during a visit to Libby on Dec. 3.
• Chuck Tapia and Pat Kenoyer of Libby escaped the flames of their burning home during the early morning hours of Dec. 3.
• Lincoln County commissioners unanimously passed revamped lakeshore regulations on Dec. 8. The process had drawn criticism from some members of the public.
• Troy Mayor Don Banning and the Troy City Council showed divided interest in choice for the city’s next city attorney. Meanwhile, Libby officially hired Jim Reintsma to fill its city attorney vacancy.
• Libby City Council told the Helping Center of Libby to move its medical marijuana business outside the city limits within 60 days.
• Troy Schools superintendent Brady Selle announced his resignation, effective at the end of the school year.
• Sen. Jon Tester’s renamed Forest Jobs and Recreation Act was included in the Senate Omnibus Spending Bill. Two days later, however, Democrats abandoned the spending bill and the forest jobs legislation’s future appeared uncertain.
• The Troy City Council passed a controversial decision on a 3-1 vote to place restrictions on the community’s Fourth of July celebration. The ordinance prohibits outside fireworks, outside food and beverages, dogs, bike and skateboards at Roosevelt Park.
• Frank Shockley Jr., 51, and April Atwood, 50, were killed in a car accident at Noxon after being broadsided by a semi-truck on Highway 200.
• A broken water pipe led to the discovery of a man’s body in his Libby home. Phillip Bigelow, 57, had died of natural causes sometime after Oct. 5 but his body was not found for about 2-1/2 months.
• Larry Kelly, a legendary handgun hunter who lived part-time in Libby, died at age 75.
• U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy announced that he planned to take “senior status” in August 2011 – a term used for a judge who will retire from active service. Many of Molloy’s controversial decisions had impacted Lincoln County residents.
• An earth-shattering boom and flash of light concerned Troy residents on Christmas night. The source of the phenomenon was unknown.