Tommy O

This weekend is one that many Southwest Montana families have had circled on their calendars since the early days of winter. No, it's not opening day of baseball season. It's not Memorial Day or Mother's Day. Its opening weekend at the Silver Bow Drive-In, one of the few operating drive-in theaters left in existence and a treasure to those who enjoy it.

It's no surprise how important his home state is to Tim Montana. You need not look further than his very name. Montana is in his music, his image, and his business ventures. If you want to see what Tim Montana means to his home state, you need look no further than the Montana Department of Commerce's Governor's Conference on Tourism where Tim just took home an incredible but very justified award.

Monday night around 8:45, the Mountain View Cemetery, the final resting place of Evel Knievel and a testament to Butte, Montana's colorful past, was vandalized, apparently by a white box truck, tearing off the beautiful wrought iron arch and support that has stood for well over 100 years.

Monday night, the University of Houston Cougars, under the tutelage of Coach Kelvin Sampson, will meet the University of Florida Gators for the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship. As you have probably heard several times by now, Coach Sampson is also the former head coach of the Montana Tech Orediggers, a school he led to then-unseen success and a school where he left a lasting legacy. Coach Kelvin is a member of the Digger Athletics Hall of Fame. Sampson is a mentor to current Oredigger Head Coach Adam Hiatt. Hiatt's present-day Orediggers proudly play on Kelvin Sampson Court. But even as Sampson has moved on, you can tell there is a lot of Butte left in him.

This is the time of year when jumpstarts and dead batteries are common with Montana motorists. Ideally you would have a fully-charged battery and a heated garage to get you through the winter but for the vast majority of us, that is not the case. Here are some tips to help you and your vehicle make it through the cold stretch.

Over the last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across the country have conducted several raids resulting in thousands of arrests, some right here in Montana. This has raised concern among some Montanans who are claiming that ICE officials may be acting illegally and targeting Native Americans.

Engine 3 from the Butte-Silver Bow Fire Department with Captain Jerod Gonzalez, Firefighter Levi Davenport and Firefighter Jake Hanley are meeting up with their strike team and along with Montana firefighters from other departments are on an estimated 18-day deployment to help battle the wildfires. The Montana crew has arrived and is awaiting inspection and deployment.

With Harrison Ford sightings all over town over the last week or so and production crews set up in front of Butte's Front Street Station, it's really no secret that the "Yellowstone" television series prequel, "1923" is hard at work here in the Mining City.

You will be very hard pressed to find a more complete or well-preserved ghost town than Bannack, Montana.

You have to admit it takes a pretty low type of criminal to steal. It takes an even lower type of scum to steal from the disabled. These thieves stole from and vandalized a food truck that is staffed and operated by those with developmental disabilities. A truck that creates a revenue stream to enable further growth, activity and positivity. This truck is one of many functions of the Silver Bow Developmental Disabilities Council whose mission is as such, but so much more. This food truck provides work and a sense of self-worth and independence for our most vulnerable. A sense of purpose and productivity. And thieves worked hard at stealing the truck's generator, bluetooth speaker and more while doing plenty of damage to the truck itself.

Dream Genomics, Inc. has successfully discovered the first ever bioprofile in the blood of live deer which detects Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). This unique signature of more than 300 genes demonstrates that an early diagnostic for CWD is achievable.

How are you handling the midsummer heat? With temperatures frequently in excess of 90 degrees, many residents are looking for ways to cool off and we had a chance to chat with local forester and outdoor recreation enthusiast Jocelyn Dodge about the role that area lakes and rivers can play in your family's plans and important steps you need to remember if you plan on heading into the great outdoors.