The Troy Outdoors Club was able to repaint the T on May 4 due to the kindness and generosity of True Value Their donated paint allowed the club to refresh the paint on the T keeping our Trojan pride brightly shining from the top of the hill. Way to go Outdoors Club! Photo courtesy of Troy School District
The Libby Writer’s Group Donates over $5,000 to The
Heritage Museum
Submitted by Laurie Marie
The Libby Writer’s Group, having written a number of books with stories of local history over the past decades, has not been an active group for several years.
As the only remaining member, Jean Sonju recently made the decision to close out the Libby Writer’s Group bank account and donate the money to The Heritage Museum.
The group’s main objective was to preserve the history of Lincoln County through their writing, therefore she felt it was most appropriate that the money go to the Museum.
Mrs. Sonju recently presented a check in the amount of $5,928.87 to Ericka Hardgrove, Museum president.
The Heritage Museum is currently raising funds for a desperately needed new roof, so this donation could not have come at a better time.
Ribbon Cutting for Libby’s New Electric Vehicle Charging Station, May 11
Submitted by Courtney Stone
The City of Libby and Flathead Electric Co-op will cut the ribbon for Libby’s new electric vehicle charging station on May 11 at 1 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
The charging station is located on land owned by the City of Libby and leased to the Co-op. It is near the Libby Chamber of Commerce and central to several Libby hotels, restaurants, and shops.
“The Co-op is excited about this partnership with the City of Libby,” said General Manager Mark Johnson. “Visitors to Libby, and guests of Libby locals, increasingly arrive via electric vehicles and need a place to charge. Numerous businesses are within walking distance to this charging station and EV owners can support those businesses while they wait.”
The Level 2 charging station rates are $1.55 per hour (capacity charge) plus $0.08 cents per kilowatt hour (energy charge).
There is a Level 3 charging station in the works for the Libby Town Pump with an anticipated opening date this summer. The Libby Town Pump is the recent recipient of a “Fast Charge Your Ride” grant and will offer one Level 3 fast charge and one Level 2.
“Although Level 3 charging stations are faster, the City of Libby and the Co-op felt a Level 2 was appropriate for this location. This station is more community based for people that are going to spend some time in Libby, or for locals to charge without the high costs associated with a Level 3 station. There was also a significant cost savings for the charging station itself,” noted Katie Pfennigs, Community Relations Manager for the Co-op.
Pfennigs continued, “Some of our members are interested in EV technology, and others are not. The Co-op doesn’t take a position on EVs, except to prepare for their presence on the grid that we manage for all members. It is important for us to understand how EVs impact our demand and capacity for electricity across our service area, which is why we installed this Level 2 charger in Libby.”
To find electric vehicle charging stations, please visit https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/electricity_locations.html
Flathead Electric Co-op was founded in 1937 to bring electric service to rural areas of the Flathead Valley. The Co-op offers generation, transmission, and distribution of affordable, reliable, carbon-free electric energy and is the largest co-op in Montana, serving 56,000+ members, while focusing on community, innovation, and reliability.
Man tragically taken by the Yaak River north of
Kootenai River while on Group Kayaking Trip
Submitted By Brent Shrum of Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office
On May 8, 2022, at approximately 12:19 pm, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office dispatch center received an SOS message from a GPS device in the Yaak River area, West of Troy, Montana.
Deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s office began responding to the area.
Updated information was received from the GPS device that the 38-year-old male who had sent the message and was healthy and on a kayaking trip with 3 other males. A short time later, one of the males was able to make it to a phone and called 911 to report that 50-year-old Steven Koning, from Idaho, was kayaking with the group on the Yaak River approximately 3-4 miles north of the Kootenai River. The group was going through a rough stretch of river when Koning fell out of his kayak. Fellow kayakers attempted to help him get to safety, but he slipped underwater, and they lost sight of him.
David Thompson Search and Rescue, Troy Volunteer Ambulance, and Two Bear Air Rescue responded to assist in the search. Members of David Thompson Search and Rescue located Koning’s body at approximately 3:33 pm in the Kootenai River near the Idaho-Montana state line.
Notifications were made by the Lincoln County Coroner.