In Brief
STOKR registration closing soon
The Scenic Tour of the Kootenai River bike ride will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15, 2016. The two-day bike ride is limited to 450 riders. Registration is open from Feb. 14 to Feb. 28, 2016.
Zinke’s staff in Libby March 1
Representatives from Rep. Ryan Zinke’s office will visit Libby to hold mobile office hours Tuesday, March 1 from 9 a.m. until noon. Staff will be on site to help with issues relating to the federal government including but not limited to the IRS, military service, veterans benefits, Social Security, etc. They will also be available to hear concerns regarding federal legislative issues. All members of the public are welcome to attend. Prior scheduling is encouraged but not required. For more information call John Fuller, District Director for Rep. Zinke at 406-223-8532.
Motivational Happy Hour Feb. 28
Danielle Spillman will be hosting a motivational happy hour at Cabinet Mountain Brewery Feb. 28 from 4 p.m until 7 p.m.
Spillman has created a vision board for members of the community to add their thoughts and hopes to, along with inspiring material for guests to take with them. There will also be inspirational guest speakers at the free event.
Lincoln County Christmas fundraiser
The Libby Pizza Hut will be donating 10 percent of all sales generated between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Thursday, March 3, to Lincoln County Christmas to help purchase toys and games for Lincoln County’s less fortunate youth for Christmas.
Libby Fine Arts meeting Feb. 25
The Libby Fine Arts Inc. meeting will be held Feb. 25 at the Treasure Manor activities room from 1:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. This is an informal get-together and paint session. For more information call Marilyn Irwin at 293-7091.
Cabinet Peaks Family Medicine to open March 14
Cabinet Peaks Family Medicine will open on March 14, 2016 in the St. John’s Lutheran Medical Complex at 350 Louisiana Ave.
CPMC’s Walk-in Clinic will be moving to Cabinet Peaks Family Medicine. The clinic will be operating in its current space with its current hours until the morning of March 14, 2016. Cabinet Peaks Family Medicine will be seeing scheduled patients and walk-in patients during their hours of operation, and same day appointments will also be available. Because the Emergency Department at Cabinet Peaks Medical Center must follow all federal EMTALA laws, as of March 14, any patient who presents to the Emergency Department must be triaged and have a medical screening exam completed. If patients present to the Emergency Department with symptoms appropriate for walk in or clinic care, they will be cared for in the ED and billed accordingly. For guidelines of when to present to the clinic or to the Emergency Department, please visit www.cabinetpeaks.org and go to the walk in clinic or Cabinet Peaks Family Medicine page.
Libby Dam flow updates
Libby Dam outflow will remain on minimum flows (4 kcfs) through the end of the February with an expected end of month elevation of 2,410.2 ft. A deviation from the Water Control Plan has been approved by the Columbia Basin Water Management Division to reduce the flood space required by end of February and increase the Flood Risk Management elevation of 2,407 ft to approximately 2,410.2 ft. This deviation will likely allow for greater outflows in March while still meeting flood risk management requirements.
The February Water Supply forecast for WY 2016 was released Feb. 5. The forecast of 6,318 KAF is 107 percent of average (based on 1981-2010).
Montana gas prices fall again
Average retail gasoline prices in Montana have fallen 1 cent per gallon in the past week, averaging $1.70 per gallon yesterday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 615 gas outlets in Montana. This compares with the national average that has increased 1.9 cents per gallon in the last week to $1.71 per gallon, according to gasoline price website GasBuddy.com.
Including the change in gas prices in Montana during the past week, prices yesterday were 29.4 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 14.8 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 13.1 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 58.4 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago.
According to GasBuddy historical data, gasoline prices on February 22 in Montana have ranged widely over the last five years:
$2.00 per gallon in 2015, $3.09 in 2014, $3.23 in 2013, $3.15 in 2012 and $3.00 in 2011.