Briefs - August 22, 2014
Nordic film fest joins Nordicfest
The Board of Libby Nordicfest is excited to announce the first annual free Scandinavian Film Festival.
In cooperation with the Dome Theater a series of films produced in or about Scandinavian life, history and culture will be presented at no cost to the public on three consecutive Wednesday and Thursday evenings prior to Nordicfest.
The films will range in interest from arts and action to culture and children. The action category, for example, will include the 2007 release “Beowulf,” starring Anthony Hopkins and Angelina Jolie, and for nostalgic old timers the 1958 release “The Vikings,” starring Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh.
The films will be shown on Aug. 27 and 28, and Sept. 3, 4, 10 and 11. All showings will be at 7 p.m. In addition, there will be a showing of “The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking” at 4 p.m. on Sept. 11 for children.
Bridge repair in Three Rivers district
According to a Kootenai National Forest release, beginning Monday, Sept. 1, the West Fork Yaak Bridge on Forest Road number 5857 will be closed for abutment repair work.
The bridge will remain closed until Sept. 30, and possibly extend into October depending upon required repair work. Signs will be posted to alert drivers of the closure.
In addition to the West Fork bridge project, the forest service will be doing some scour mitigation work, which includes placing rip rap around the bridge pier, to the Long Meadow bridge off of Forest Road number 593. According to the release, this repair work should not impact traffic and the bridge will remain open. The date for this work is unknown at this time. Signs will be posted to alert drivers of the work in progress.
For more information, please contact the Three Rivers ranger district at (406) 295-4693.
Astronomy presentation nears
The public is invited to join the KSAC astronomy club for a special presentation by Mike Herr, retired award winning NASA engineer, at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29 at the Venture Inn.
Body of drowned man not found yet
Sheriff Roby Bowe said that as of Thursday, the body of the drowning victim on Middle Thompson Lake had not yet been located. Anthony Joseph Bachman is presumed to have died on Saturday, Aug. 16 after falling off of the bow of a moving pontoon boat on Middle Thompson Lake, according to a press release from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.
County emergency teams receive grant
Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency has written and received another grant benefitting the county’s first response agencies. Nine fire departments and four ambulance services will receive Panasonic ToughBook Laptops with the Bullberry Insight mapping programs that is used by dispatch in order to aid with responding to incidents county-wide. Lisa Oedewaldt, deputy at the EMA, has finished programming the software into the laptops and the next step is to get with planning and create the evacuation routes each fire department indicated in their road books from an early Fire Co-Op project.
ISIS beheads American journalist
Associated Press — The United States launched a new barrage of airstrikes against Islamic State extremists Wednesday and weighed sending more troops to Iraq as President Barack Obama vowed to be relentless in pursuit of the terrorist group that beheaded an American journalist and is holding other U.S. citizens hostage.
In brief but forceful remarks, Obama said the U.S. would “do what we must to protect our people,” but stopped short of promising to follow the Islamic State into its safe haven in Syria, where officials said Wednesday that James Foley was killed. However, the State Department refused to rule out future U.S. military operations in Syria, where Obama has long resisted intervening in a three-year civil war.
Foley’s mother said she is praying for other hostages being held by the Sunni-dominated terror group, and described her son’s slaying as “just evil.”
Senate candidate to “grin and bear it”
Montana Democrats have chosen a promising young state legislator to replace John Walsh in a U.S. Senate campaign she has little chance of winning but which party leaders hope can pull disgruntled voters to the polls for other races, including the state’s lone congressional seat.
First-term state Rep. Amanda Curtis, 34, is a high school math teacher in Butte who won the endorsements of Montana’s teachers union for her opposition to charter schools as well as the Montana Sportsmen Alliance before Saturday’s party convention in Helena. Democrats are hoping her outspoken support for labor unions and women’s rights will energize the campaign against U.S. Rep. Steve Daines.
Walsh was widely criticized for a lackluster campaign against Daines before plagiarism allegations led Walsh to step down.
“I would be pretty hard pressed to not accept a nomination,” Curtis said before Saturday’s convention. “Even though it’s scary uncharted territory, it’s an opportunity for us to pull together and electrify the whole state.”
Curtis’s political track record is brief. She was elected in 2012 and was not seeking re-election this year in a redrawn district that would have pitted her against a party ally. She’s built a following largely through active use of social media to get her views out.
Curtis’ role in the Senate campaign will be to “grin and bear it, because what matters now is getting turnout for the ticket,” said David Parker, a political analyst at Montana State University.