Bitterroot Star

Stevensville Western Heritage Days is back after a pandemic-induced hiatus. The committee is hoping this will be a banner year for attendance as people turn out to celebrate making it through a super challenging year and can now gather and enjoy this popular local festival. The festival, the 32nd annual, will be held Friday and […]

by Nathan Boddy Several dozen people were clustered around the entrance to Hamilton City Hall last Tuesday, June 8th, well before the door was opened for the Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting.  The majority of the large turnout was there to voice their opposition to a proposal by area high schoolers and volunteers to […]

Unveiling scheduled for July 4 Two new display panels are being installed at the Sacajawea’s Rest Park, a small pocket park located right on Main Street in Downtown Darby. The panels depict the two of the national historic trails that pass through Darby. One depicts the entire length of the trail taken by the Lewis […]

Fifty-seven-year-old Debbie Stevens just completed her fourth bodybuilding show, finishing in first place in the Masters 50+ Bikini competition at the Big Sky National Physique Committee (NPC) Bodybuilding Show in Missoula. She’s now headed to the national stage in July in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. “It seems surreal to me, to be able to be my age […]

by Nathan Boddy Ravalli County Public Health is mobilized and ready to provide the Covid vaccine to anyone who is willing to take it, from age 12 and over. Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) indicates that, as of Friday, June 11th, approximately 43% of Ravalli County had been fully vaccinated against […]

Spaces still available “This is just a fabulous stepping stone” into the world of computer coding, says Gay Allison, a Coding for Kids board member.  The Coding for Kids summer program at Stevensville is underway and more and more kids are realizing that this stuff is fun! So far, 75 kids, first grade through high […]

by Nathan Boddy For fifty years, the Bitterroot Mountains of western Montana have been scaled, skied, hunted and traversed by a high mountain creature whose pseudonym says it all: “The Montana Mountain Goat.” Mario Locatelli, local mountaineer and author, has not allowed his status as octogenarian to dampen his desire to share his stories. His […]

by Nathan Boddy Dr. Marshall Bloom, Associate Director of the Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML), was a guest speaker at the Hamilton City Council on Tuesday, June 1. His presentation was given to familiarize the Council with a series of developments that will begin on, and adjacent to, the RML campus over the coming years. Dr. […]

Applications open to fill vacancy Patrick Shourd, Councilmember in Stevensville’s second ward, has given notice that he will resign his position on June 10th. Shourd, in an email to Mayor Brandon Dewey and the Town Council, said, “While I value the role as a Councilman my primary obligations will always reside with my family.” Shourd […]

A new health care location will open in Stevensville in fall of 2022; Bitterroot Health – Stevensville, bringing health care services and specialty options to our growing community.  The new, 21,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility will be located on 11 acres off Highway 93 and Kootenai Creek Road. This new medical center will link Bitterroot […]

‘Taste of Freedom’ fundraiser this Friday The LifeGuard Group, an organization that works to stop human trafficking, is building a safe house in the Bitterroot Valley. According to Lowell Hochhalter, Executive Director, the new facility will be called The LifeHouse at Crooked Tree Ranch. Hochhalter wasn’t interested in publicizing the location, in order to protect its […]

Carol Saylor has always been a “net weaver.” That’s what she calls her ability to connect the people she meets with the information they need to make something happen. “I see the big picture,” says Carol. “I see how to get from point A to point B. I see how to get to Point C. […]

Protecting nesting golden eagles and peregrine falcons a major concern Stevensville District Ranger Steve Brown hosted the first in a series of planned public meetings in the Bitterroot National Forest’s effort to produce a forest-wide climbing management plan. The first meeting focused primarily on the impacts that recreational climbing can have on cliff nesting raptors […]

Our Salish neighbors are excited to return to Hamilton for the 41st Annual Bitter Root Day at the Ravalli County Museum on Saturday, June 12 from 9 to 1 p.m. located at 205 Bedford Street. Bitter Root Day is a festival centered on the Valley’s Salish Heritage and our state flower, the Bitter Root. The […]