“Well, you don’t have to be a genius like Einstein to come up with a scientific equation.
I came up with one today; ‘∞A=female/male+C¹+t(x)+KR.’
It stands for ‘infinite awesomeness = any male or female having a single camera for any
amount of time at the Kootenai River.’ This shot is downstream from the swinging bridge today.”
Photo Courtesy of Robert E. Hosea [thebobfactor.com]
The Troy Mine was constructed in the late 1970’s and operated off and on until 2012. It is located about 15 miles south of Troy and sits north of Bull Lake within the Stanley Lake and Ross Creek drainage systems. Since 2016, Hecla Montana has been undertaking the reclamation of the Troy Mine.
To date, successful reclamation of the Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) required support from local and regional contractors, coordination and partnerships with the state and federal agencies, and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
Since the mine was first harvested over 30 years ago, a systematic and thorough plan for concurrent reclamation was implemented to ensure that its surrounding environment was staged to cohesively thrive while in operation. Something that didn’t occur when the first Earth Day transpired back in April of 1970.
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and the Montana Metal Mine Reclamation Act (MMRA) have all now come to shape the way mining looks today.
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Montana Department of Revenue:
If You Move, Let Us Know
The Montana Department of Revenue has an important message to Montana taxpayers who move after filing their income tax return:
Keep your mailing address current with the department.
This is especially true for anyone filing a
Montana income tax return for the first time.
The department sends refunds to first-time filers only by paper check – not by direct deposit – due to our security measures to combat fraud.
Taxpayers who haven’t filed a Montana return since 2018 will also receive any refund by paper check.
This means your refund will be delayed if the department has an incorrect address.
The department may try to contact you by mail if there are questions about your filing or if we need more information from you.
You can download a change-of-address
form at MTRevenue.gov or request one from our Call Center at (406) 444-6900.
In 2020, more than 4,800 state income tax refund checks were returned to the department because of incorrect addresses.
The Department of Revenue also reminds taxpayers:
Electronic filing is the safest and fastest way to file your return and get your refund as quickly as possible.
It could take up to 90 days to process refunds for some taxpayers due to security measures taken against identity theft and fraud. Taxpayers can check the status of their refund at MTRevenue.gov.
For those who worked remotely in Montana during any part of 2020, income earned while working in the state is taxable in Montana.
Montana and federal 2020 individual income tax returns are due May 17.
2021 Wings
Motorcycle Poker Run
by Stacy Bender
Organizers of the 2021 Wings Motorcycle Run could not be more excited that the event is now just over a month away. “Yes, we know it’s Memorial Day Weekend,” read a post shared to the event’s social media page in early March. “We’re riding! Anyone can join the fun – motorcycles, hot rods, ATVs, etc… mark your calendars for May 29 to come out and support Wings Regional Cancer Support.”
This year’s route will travel approximately 120 miles from the Switchback Bar & Grill in Libby, up Pipe Creek Road, over “The Summit,” down into the Yaak for lunch, south again to the Home Bar in Troy, and back to VFW Post #1548 in Libby.
“It’s always a fantastic day,” shared Dee Teske, event organizer. “A great day for a great cause. And we do want to be sure everyone knows you don’t need to have a motorcycle to ride along. The more the merrier, and the greater the benefit to Wings!”
Poker hands will cost $10 each with no limit on the number of hands each rider can play. Cards will be “drawn” at various roadside stops by engaging in various games: floating ducks, darts, a roulette wheel, ping pong cups.
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Angela Wolfe “Holds‘Em” steady at Pastime
by Moira Blazi
There are many great card games. Bridge, rummy, blackjack, canasta, pinochle, solitaire… and all of them combine luck with skillful playing and strategy. But arguably, the king of all card games is Poker because it not only combines the luck of the draw with strategy, but it adds keen observation of human nature as well.
Fabled stories of heated poker games in saloons of the wild west and the glitz and glamor of high rollers dropping millions in high stakes tournaments have helped create a particular panache for a game that is simple to learn, but not so simple to play.
Basic to its appeal, poker is gambling. Folks take it very, very seriously and becoming a professional dealer requires training and state certification. Here in Libby we are fortunate to have such a professional dealer, Angela Wolfe, who presides at the twice weekly live poker games held at the Pastime Bar in downtown Libby.
“I learned how to deal before I learned how to play.” Wolfe told the Montanian. “I was bartending at Marvin’s (bar) in Missoula, one of my customers told me he thought I should be a poker dealer because it’s a lot more money. I told him I know nothing about poker, and he said, ‘I will teach you.’” That was back in 1997, and after Wolfe earned her state dealers license, she moved to Libby and dealt live poker games at Treasure Mountain Casino from 1998 to 2000.
Wolfe then stopped dealing from 2000 to 2018. “I was a young mom, she recalled, I moved to Arizona briefly and then came back to Libby, got married, adopted a child, and actually ended up with 6 kids!” Wolfe later divorced in 2018 and traveled to Great Falls to be re-certified in the state. She got a job in Great Falls and lived there for a year and a half. Missing family and friends, she moved back to Libby but kept her job and commuted the five hours to and from central Montanan for over 6 months.
In late 2019 there were no live poker games In Libby. So, after some negotiation, Wolfe began dealing at the Pastime in January of 2020. “We started with a free-roll mini tournament, focusing on (the game) Texas Hold’em. It worked, we got a lot of new players, we had regular players, and always new faces.”
In early March of 2020, The Pastime along with most other local businesses had to shut down due to Covid-19 restrictions. Games at the Pastime were temporarily halted until November when they resumed with a bi-weekly Texas Hold’em game that presently continues in full swing.
The Game draws a loyal group of players and new faces, too. Regulars Rick, JR., Jeff, and Darrell Drugges love the game. “I drive down from the Yaak to play,” Drugges said. “Mostly for the great companionship!”
“It’s part of the history of the American west, added Jeff. “The games are very professional and well run, and I really enjoy the friendly competition.”
“I’ve made some really great friends, and I love that we can drink!” added JR.
Professional Poker Dealer, Angela Wolfe, keeps a table of patrons at The Pastime in downtown Libby engaged and focused on the game at hand. Photo by Moira Blazi
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