Montana
Bikers heading to Sturgis stop in tiny eastern Montana town by the thousands
ALZADA — Alzada has about two dozen residents but one day every year, it becomes one of the largest towns in the southeastern corner of Montana. That’s thanks to bikers on their way to and from the Sturgis Rally in South Dakota.
As a resident living near Alzada, it’s something Julie Stoddard gets to experience more than most.
“You can’t believe what a bunch of bikers think of a bunch of cowboys. They were pretty fascinated,” Stoddard said Tuesday.
It’s not just a bunch of bikers. It’s thousands.
“There’s one convenience store in Alzada, and that poor little store just burst at the seams on that day,” Stoddard said.
Stoddard has seen firsthand the joy, excitement, and traffic these bikers bring to the Stoneville Saloon on this specific Tuesday.
Julie Stoddard
“It’s pretty crazy actually. On that particular day, to have the traffic increase by double on that road,” added Stoddard.
“We have usually seven (thousand) to 10,000 bikes. If we clear, if we make it over about 8,400, we’re bigger than Miles City and Havre. So we’re in the top 10 largest cities in Montana for an afternoon,” said Carter County Sheriff’s Deputy Dwayne Bruce.
Bruce said they’ve had bikes backed up over a mile to the state line in the past.
“It’s loud because even at an idle, when you have 40 bikes passing, you can’t hear, you can’t talk to each other. You can’t hear by about noon,” Bruce said.
He said there’s so many people in the area that you can’t even get cell phone service.
“Your phone will tell you you’ve got five bars. You try to make a call and it’ll say, tower’s busy,” said Bruce.
The county suspends any work in the area, even the Montana Department of Transportation is involved.
Julie Stoddard
“Puts a thing out on the 511 information that there’s an incident here, just encouraging truck drivers to go a different route,” Bruce said.
It’s why all hands are on deck.
“We have Montana Highway Patrol, Wyoming Highway Patrol, Motor Carrier Service. Then we have DES from probably three different counties. And then of course, the sheriff’s office, we brought in some reserves,” said Bruce.
A day’s work, however, is worth it for the rest of the year.
“I’ve been told that that’s, that’s basically the one day makes the bar’s budget for the rest of the year,” Bruce said.
It brings a little excitement to local residents like Stoddard in an otherwise remote area.
“It’s a great chance to learn about other people and share with them about our world, too,” said Stoddard.
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Clark Fork River has long been a defining feature of Missoula, shaping the city’s culture, economy and outdoor lifestyle.
The river is so closely tied to the area that it helped inspire the well-known book and film “A River Runs Through It.” But local conservation advocates say its importance goes far beyond scenery.
“Without the Clark Fork River, Missoula would just be another town,” said Lisa Ronald, Northern Rockies associate conservation director for American Rivers. “We wouldn’t be the River City. I think we’re known in Montana as Missoula the River City, and it’s really because of the Clark Fork River and its central role in business, in economics, in recreation, that really makes Missoula the town that it is.”
Carmen Murill, a field organizer with Wild Montana, said the river is deeply woven into daily life for people who live in Missoula.
“A lot of us would wonder what to do on a beautiful or a rainy summer day,” Murill said. “I mean, it’s really a lifeforce of town. And I think it’s pretty unique that Missoula, as a community is living and breathing on both sides of the river. It’s really like two downtowns but connected by the Clark Fork.”
Conservation groups say protecting the river begins with community involvement.
Advocates encourage residents and visitors to spend time outdoors, whether on a trail, in the woods or along the river, and to learn how they can become better stewards of the environment.
MISSOULA — Sam Forstag edged out Ryan Busse to secure the Democratic nomination in Montana’s 1st Congressional District.
Busse conceded the race to Forstag on Wednesday morning. Forstag had trailed behind Busse Tuesday evening, but he made up ground as the votes were counted into the early hours of Wednesday morning. The other two candidates in the race, Russl Cleveland and Matt Rains, are sitting at third and fourth, respectively.
Forstag leads in close race for Montana’s 1st Congressional District
Forstag spent eight years as a wildland firefighter, including four as a smokejumper, and he’s been vice president of the local National Federation of Federal Employees union. Last week, U.S. House of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, held a rally in Missoula to support Forstag’s campaign.
He told MTN on Tuesday that his campaign has been for the working class.
“We got a whole lot of people here that have been working their tail off to finally get some working-class representation in Washington,” Forstag noted. “So proud of everything we’ve done and so grateful.”
Forstag further noted he wants Montanans to be able to afford groceries, have universal free childcare and restore and expand Affordable Health Care Act subsidies.
“Hearing people’s stories and struggles and commonalities in the ways that we’re all fighting in the system that does not serve us so often, and the government serves corporations and the richest people in this country more than working people. It has been frustrating and saddening, but it has also inspired so much hope in me, like the fixes we can actually make,” he told MTN.
The 1st Congressional District covers much of western Montana, including Kalispell, Missoula, Butte and Bozeman. It is currently held by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, who chose not to seek reelection.
By securing the nomination, Forstag is slated tol face off against Libertarian candidate Nick Sheedy and Republican candidate Aaron Flint in November.
Brian Miller won the Democratic primary Tuesday for the U.S. House seat in Montana’s eastern district.
The Associated Press called the race for Miller, an attorney in Helena, who fended off a challenge from state Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, a longtime legislator from Box Elder, and Sam Lux, a farrier from Great Falls.
In the Republican and rural eastern district, any Democrat will be an underdog, and Miller will face off against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Downing, who was unopposed Tuesday.
Libertarian Patrick McCracken is also running.
In the primary, Miller took 58% of the vote. Lux took 27% and Windy Boy took 16%, according to the Montana Secretary of State’s website.
In April, Windy Boy paused his campaign amid “serious sexual abuse” allegations raised by the Montana Democratic Party — but Windy Boy restarted his campaign and later called the allegations “political attacks.”
Miller is representing the victim of the alleged abuse and her mother, although he said he didn’t take on the role until after Windy Boy initially suspended his campaign.
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