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Covering the Bitterroot Valley – “Where Montana Begins!” – Established 1985 – Locally Owned & Independent
Stevensville Parade of Lights
’ ! l a c o L t
a t s e B e h ‘T Volume XXXVII, Number 18
www.bitterrootstar.com
Dec. 3 • 6:30 pm Decorate your car or truck for Car Parade Call Liz for info 406-880-2007
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Town of Darby, former mayor sued by Michael Howell A complaint and demand for a jury trial has been filed in Ravalli County District Court by former Darby Public Works Director Terry Linton against the Town of Darby and former Mayor Matthew Locati, claiming wrongful discharge along with allegations of libel, slander, and deceit. The lawsuit, filed on September 29 of this year, has apparently gone largely undiscussed by the current Town Council and administration. The town’s current mayor, Ruth Lendrum, told the Bitterroot Star last week that she was aware of the issue but could not discuss pending litigation. Town Council member
Tammie Jones, who has been on the council since last August, said that she had remembered seeing a memo once about the lawsuit but did not believe that the council had discussed it. She said she was not aware of any details concerning the case and did not know why exactly the lawsuit had been filed. Council member Bill De Spain, however, said he was aware of the lawsuit and was also at the meetings “where Terry was basically fired.” He said, “If Terry had simply come in and said there were charges brought against him and that he agreed with some of them but did not agree with all of them, but if you guys would give me another 120 days and keep an eye
on me, I’ll do everything the mayor asks me to do, then I think he would still be employed. But he was caught in multiple lies and he admitted it and there is no way that he can get out of it.” De Spain also mentioned that when Linton appeared at the meeting with an attorney the attorney was not allowed to speak. He said there was a rule in the Town’s charter where a person can have support present on their side, but that person cannot speak. He said when the attorney tried to speak, “I read off that section to him in our charter and he got very quiet. He understood it.” De Spain said that at the time, current Council President McKinney tried to make
Country Christmas in Stevi is a go
See CHRISTMAS, page 5
See DARBY, page 6
Let’s Turkey Trot! Dominic Farrenkopf, with Sapphire Lutheran Homes, was making the rounds last Friday in Stevensville and Darby, raising funds for Pantry Partners and the Darby Bread Box. This Thursday, he’ll be in Hamilton all day. This is the 5th annual “Turkey Trot.” He’s pictured here with Melissa Elmore, sales clerk at Browsing Bison Bookstore in Stevensville. Elmore encourages folks to “be generous with this turkey.” Donations can also be made directly by calling Darby Bread Box, 821-2081; Haven House, 363-2450, or Pantry Partners, 777-0351. Dominic says, “Tell ‘em the turkey sent you!”
by Victoria Howell The annual Country Christmas celebration in Stevensville, sponsored by the Stevensville Civic Club and local businesses, will be held Friday and Saturday, December 3rd and 4th. The evening will kick off with the Parade of Lights, which will be allvehicle again this year. Last year, the parade was changed from a walking parade to a vehicle parade, and the response to that was overwhelmingly positive. People can still gather at 3rd and Main to enjoy caroling by members of the Stevensville High School Choir, view the Living Nativity, and hear the reading of the Christmas Story. Santa Claus will be riding one of the decorated fire trucks that will be featured in the parade. Individuals are invited to decorate their vehicles and line up at 6 p.m. in the alley on the east side of Main heading north. The parade will take place around 6:30 p.m. (Call Liz at 880-2007 for more information.) Following the parade, the winner of the Flip the Switch coloring contest, sponsored by the Town of Stevensville, will flip the switch that turns on the overhead holiday street lights. A2Z Personnel is sponsoring tree and window decorating contests for local businesses. The public can vote on these from Monday, November 29th through Friday, December 3rd. Winners will get to display the traveling trophies. New this year will be a live auction on the sidewalk in front of Rocky Mountain Bank, which will take place around 7 p.m. A select group of Christmas trees decorated by local businesses will be auctioned off to benefit Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in the Bitterroot Valley. That program supplies a free book a month to children ages birth to 5. In addition to the trees, live auction items include a dinner at Mission Bistro for a family of four with a personal visit from Santa, gourmet cheesecakes and some mystery items. The end of the live auction will signal the beginning
an exception to that and allow him to speak on behalf of his client. “At that point I said, why do we even have a charter?” Former Mayor Matthew Locati did not return phone calls seeking comment on the lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, the circumstances leading up to Linton’s termination involved his absence from work due to potential exposure to COVID-19 among his family members. The lawsuit alleges that Linton was subjected to continually changing demands for various forms of verification about his or his family member’s status relating to COVID
Stevensville to move forward with transportation master plan update by Victoria Howell At its November 8th meeting, the Stevensville Town Council decided to hire Robert Peccia and Associates and HDR Engineering to do a Transportation Master Plan update. The current plan was last updated in 2006. Mayor Brandon Dewey said this agenda item came out of the council’s previous discussion regarding their frustration in dealing with the Burnt Fork Estates
subdivision proposal. “This is an initiative to rectify that situation,” said Dewey, “so that as future annexations and growth occur there is some sort of plan in place to deal with that.” He said the update will cover all modes of transportation (walking, bicycling, sidewalks, etc.) The Town received only one response to the advertised Request for Qualifications, a joint proposal from HDR and RPA. Dewey said the Planning Board
had reviewed the proposal and recommended approval. “We are pretty fortunate to get this type of proposal from an engineering firm,” said council member Paul Ludington who also sits on the Planning Board. “There are a lot of changes to the area since the last plan was done… this is more of a plan for what we will be able to do in the future and facilitate See STEVI, page 4
Lions Club donates to cancer center The Hamilton Lions Club has donated $4000 to the cancer center that is being built at the Bitterroot Health/Marcus Daly Hospital in Hamilton “On behalf of the generosity of all of the people that played Lions Club Bingo at the Ravalli County Fair, Hamilton Lions Club President Dixie Dies and Vice President Dr. Rob Wilkins presented a $4000.00 donation to the new Cancer Center at Bitterroot Health,” said
Dixie Dies, Hamilton Lions Club President. “This is the first time our club has chosen a specific organization to receive proceeds from the Bingo Booth,” said Dies. “In the past, Bingo Booth profits have always stayed in the community to help with eyesight and hearing needs and diabetes education. We will continue with that mission. We are here and ‘We Serve.’” Dies said the club realized how
important the Cancer Center is to the community and wanted to do something to help with that effort. She said the important part of the donation is that it came from all of the people that played bingo at the fair. Fifty cents a card, three cards for a dollar, over four days. “The donation came from the community, the Lions club just helped with the follow through,” said Dies. “Thank you – to all of the bingo players for your generosity.”