The Sweet Pea Festival is pleased to announce the 2021 winners of their annual poster, adult and children’s t-shirt design contests. Additionally, this year the Festival added a new category for the best coffee mug design.
  
This year’s poster contest winner is Ali Swain, a 20-year-old student who resides in Bozeman. “I moved here from Chicago because I absolutely fell in love with the people and the area. I come from an artistic family and have been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil. I am actually newer to painting, as I normally stick to drawing.” Some of Ali's passions include skiing, writing, and traveling. She will attend MSU in the Fall, pursuing a major in pre-veterinary sciences. “Because of my love for animals I decided to paint a moose,” Ali stated. “I am very honored to be a part of this year’s festival that’s so unique to Bozeman. I can’t wait to attend!”

 
Josie Trudgeon is the winner of this year’s adult t-shirt design contest. “I am a Butte artist and photographer. I’m honored my work was chosen for the 2021 Sweet Pea t-shirt! I remember the buzz surrounding the Sweet Pea Festival when I first moved to Bozeman in 1999.  I had to look up what a sweet pea was, and they quickly became a favorite flower. I grow them every year. Floral is my favorite subject to paint and draw. I work in oil, acrylic and watercolor.” Josie holds a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and Communication from Saint Cloud State University. Married with two teenage children, Josie has lived in Butte since 2002.

 
Ten-year old Kaia Batton is this year’s children’s t-shirt design contest winner. Kaia lives with her mom, dad, and brother. She has two dogs, two tortoises, and three hermit crabs. Kara loves dragons, the book series Wings of Fire, and looks forward to attending middle school next Fall. She also likes creating art, performing aerial silk, rafting and boating, camping, and playing with her friends.

This year, Sweet Pea Festival also held a contest for the design of a coffee mug. Coco Costigan’s hand-thrown pottery mug was the winning design for this first-of-its-kind contest. Coco has been creating art in clay since 1992. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ceramics from California State University, Long Beach, in 1996. Coco, her husband, and their two children moved to Bozeman in 2019. She currently works and teaches in her home studio. Coco’s realist/sculptural work will be on exhibit at the Jessie Wilber Gallery in the Emerson Center for Arts & Culture in August 2021. A limited number of Coco’s Sweet Pea Festival mugs will be numbered and signed.

Congratulations to COCO COSTIGAN for winning Sweet Pea's first ever COFFEE MUG contest. These mugs are so beautiful and truly a work of art. Coco wins $1000 and will make a limited amount of numbered mugs for us to sell at the Festival. You can pre-order them now and pick up between July 26 & August 3 at our office.

 
For more information or to place your preorders for this year’s coffee mug please contact the Sweet Pea Festival office at 406-586-4003 or visit the festival website at https://sweetpeafestival.org. Posters, postcards and t-shirts will be available online and at the Festival.

ABOUT SWEET PEA FESTIVAL:
 
The Sweet Pea Festival is a three-day festival of the arts held in Bozeman, Montana, since 1978. Festival dates are always the first full weekend in August with other events, such as Chalk on the Walk and The Bite of Bozeman starting off the festivities of Sweet Pea Week.  The festival includes everything from music, theatre and dance, to children’s activities, arts and crafts vendors from Bozeman and around the country, and adult painting workshops. The Sweet Pea Festival is committed to its mission statement of “promoting and cultivating the arts.”

 
Hundreds of volunteers run and organize this annual event, a testament to the community’s desire for its ongoing success. All monies raised above what is needed to operate the festival are given back to the community in the form of grants for the arts, art education, and special projects in the Bozeman area. “Where art and community meet.”

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks recently completed its annual report to NorthWestern Energy for the Madison River drainage.  

Through its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license, NorthWestern Energy provides mitigation funds to protect and enhance Madison River basin fisheries. FWP’s report details how these mitigation funds were used in 2020 to complete fish population monitoring in Hebgen Lake and in two sections of the Madison River. 

FWP uses these estimates — which have been conducted since the 1960s — to monitor the health of the river’s trout populations.  

Last year, biologists found that the number of brown and rainbow trout at least 6 inches long remained below the 20-year averages in the upper Madison River, except for rainbow trout in the Varney section, which runs from Varney Bridge to just above the Eight Mile Ford Fishing Access Site.  

There, biologists found an estimated 2,401 rainbow trout per mile, the highest abundance observed in more than 20 years. However, the majority of these fish — more than 2,000 per mile — were age-1 rainbow trout, and only 250 fish per mile were over 11 inches long. Estimated abundances of brown trout in the Varney section remained relatively stable for the fourth consecutive year at 1,339 fish per mile, which is 82 percent of the 20-year average for the section. 

In the Pine Butte section, which is the 3.5 miles of river upstream of Lyons Bridge, biologists found an estimated 2,152 rainbow trout per mile, which was similar to 2019 estimates. However, brown trout in that section declined by about 15 percent from 2019 to 1,367 fish per mile. The abundance of rainbow and brown trout over 11 inches long declined from 2019 estimates. 

Biologists used gill nets to estimate the abundances of trout in Hebgen Lake. Estimated abundances of both rainbow and brown trout declined in Hebgen Lake in 2020, but they remain near long-term averages of 12.9 brown trout per net and 6.3 rainbow trout per net. 

NorthWestern Energy mitigation funds were also used to complete a creel survey on Hebgen Lake in March by gathering information on angler satisfaction and catch rates. This, along with data gathered from gill-netting efforts, will help inform fisheries management of Hebgen Lake.
 
To see the full report, please visit go.usa.gov/x6yMf. 

Bozeman Celebrity Dog BaconBit, the Queen of Cactus Records & Gifts in downtown Bozeman, passed away at the age of 12 ½ on Monday, June 14th 2021.

BaconBit was best known as the greeter at and unofficial mascot for Cactus Records, where she spent the majority of days during her life. Despite spending a great deal of time sleeping on the job (often obstructing customer’s ability to navigate the store) – especially later in life - she was considered by locals and tourists alike to be their favorite Cactus Records employee.

She was also known as an ambassador at SLAM (Support Local Artists and Musicians) festivals, and sometime usher at many live music performances at Live from the Divide (where she was often invited to be on stage with performing musicians).

Her favorite holiday was Record Store Day and she was very happy that she felt well enough to briefly attend 2021 Record Store Day “Drops #1” 2 days before her death. The celebration of Record Store Day “Drops #2” on July 17th at Cactus Records & Gifts will be held in her honor.

When not working, BaconBit’s favorite past times included hiking the Bozeman area’s countless dog parks and trails (though her favorite was Beehive Basin in Big Sky), laying down in cool mountain streams, going to live concert events, riding in the car, listening to and collecting vinyl records, playing with other dogs, and sleeping. Most of all, though, she loved meeting people, which made her such a natural in her position as greeter at Cactus Records.

She is survived by her sister Bumbles The Dog (formerly known as Bumbles The Puppy), her father Mike “Bueno” Good, and a slew of current and former coworkers and customers at Cactus Records, who made up her very large family, each member of which loved her dearly.

She was, in short, “The Best Lady,” and she will be missed by many.

Commemorative BaconBit Prayer Candles can be purchased at Cactus Records & Gifts, located at 29 W. Main in downtown Bozeman, and soon to be available on the web. As per BaconBit’s request, $1 of each BaconBit Prayer Candle sold will be donated to Heart of the Valley Animal Shelter.

Low flows, high water temperatures reach closure criteria  

TWIN BRIDGES – A full fishing closure is in effect once again for a portion of the lower Ruby River due to low flows and high water temperatures.  

The closure extends about 14 miles, from the Duncan District Road crossing downstream to the confluence with the Beaverhead River. This is the second time this year a fishing closure has been implemented in this section of the Ruby River.  
Flows in the Ruby River at a U.S. Geological Survey gauge near Twin Bridges dipped below 20 cubic feet per second on June 16, well below the fifth percentile of historic daily flows for that date, which is 45 cubic feet per second. Water temperatures also exceeded 73 degrees for three consecutive days from June 13 to 15.  

These flow and temperature values meet the established criteria for closing this portion of the river to fishing. Low flows and high water temperatures have been driven primarily by very low snowpack, water supply and inflows to the river. Dry conditions are expected to continue throughout the summer. 

Closures of this nature are designed to protect fish that become more susceptible to disease and mortality when conditions, such as low flows and high water temperatures, combine with additional stressors.  

This is especially expedient this year as recent fish surveys found low numbers of trout in the lower Ruby River. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks biologists estimate there are about 191 fish per mile at the upper end of the closure area, which has a long-term average of about 700 fish per mile. At the lower end, there are an estimated 31 fish per mile, compared to a long-term average of about 800 fish per mile.  

“From a fisheries perspective, we’re at historically low trout abundances in the lower Ruby,” said Matt Jaeger, FWP’s Hydropower, Native Species and Beaverhead-Ruby Program Manager. “So that, in combination with poor snowpack and low precipitation leading to low flows and high temperatures, is why we feel an angling closure is warranted.” 

Ruby River water users are also taking steps to keep flows above 20 cubic feet per second, in accordance with the Ruby Valley Users Drought Management Plan. Stored water users have taken a 15 percent reduction in allocated water, and decreed water users have taken a voluntary 10 percent reduction in allocated water, according to Bill Wood, the Dam Tender for the Ruby River Water Users Association.  

“We’re trying to balance the needs of users who rely on water from the Ruby while maintaining flow levels that fish need,” Wood said. “Water levels at Ruby River Reservoir peaked at 93 percent of capacity this year, which is the first time since 2003 that the dam didn’t spill.” 

The section of the Ruby River between Duncan District Road and the confluence with the Beaverhead River will remain closed to fishing until daily average flows exceed 40 cubic feet per second for seven consecutive days, or until Oct. 15, 2021. 

Perhaps the biggest benefit of borrowing money in the form of a home equity loan is its flexibility. Typically used to cover large, long-term expenses, the cash this loan provides you borrowed against the equity value of your home can be significant depending on your financial health and how much equity you have built up.

The Basics
Before you consider how you can use this loan, you should have a firm grasp on the facts of the actual loan and process itself. Although there is a considerable amount of flexibility there will still be qualifications you need to meet and steps you need to take. Factors like your credit score, debt-to-income ratio, and a documented ability to pay back your loan are three great examples of qualifying pieces of the process. You can review a guide that includes everything you need to know about taking out a home equity loan so you can use what you have built up in the most efficient and beneficial way. You should expect about a 30–45-day period between when you close on this loan and when you receive the funds so factor that timeline into your plans when you are determining what you will use it for, and when you will begin the application process.

Debt Management
For people whose biggest goal is debt management, a home equity loan can be a favorable solution. This lump sum loan can allow for you to either pay off a singular large debt or consolidate several debts into a more manageable monthly format. If the interest rates are more favorable on your home equity loan than they are with your existing debts that using one to pay off the other will save you more money in the long run by allowing you to apply more of your payment towards principle and less towards interest.

Home Renovations
It is extremely common for homeowners to tap into their homes value to add even more value via a renovation or remodel. Depending on the size of your intended project your personal savings might not be the most economical way to fund it, and credit cards typically carry high interest rates making them a less desirable choice as well. Take some time to learn about smart ways to use your home equity for remodeling so that you have a frame of reference when you set your project budget, as well as when you discuss your intentions during the application process.

College Expenses
Tapping into your home’s equity is a great way to help cover the expenses of college, namely tuition payments. Since it is uncommon that the college student themselves will be the homeowner with the available equity to receive the loan, this scenario is a partnership typically between parents who wish to assist in the financial burden of college and their children. It is essential that every hopeful student develop a plan for college that includes paying for it. A home equity loan provides the borrower with a lump sum of cash so you will also need to plan for how that cash will be allocated and managed through the student’s overall college lifespan.

The ELM Opens This September

Musicians and music lovers alike are eager for the return of live music. For Bozeman, Montana,  it’s coming back in the form of an exciting new music venue!

The ELM will be located on the corner of South 7th Avenue and Short Street in Bozeman’s up-and-coming Midtown District. The ELM aims to be the best venue of its size in the Western US, with best-in-class sound and production, excellent sightlines, and efficient customer circulation throughout the building.

The two-story, 1,100 capacity concert venue will open its doors on Sept. 3, 2021, with a performance from eight-time Grammy nominee Death Cab for Cutie. 

Tickets for the grand opening and initial lineup of events will go on sale this Friday, June 18, and will be available online only at logjampresents.com starting at 10 AM MT.
 

“Bozeman, we can’t wait to play a show to break in The Elm for the beautiful venue's grand opening this September!  Get your tickets and we’ll see you there!”

- Death Cab for Cutie

The City of Bozeman has placed third overall in the “Best of the Best” Water Taste Test through the American Water Works Association (AWWA). This is the second time Bozeman has placed third in this nationwide recognition of commitment to quality and flavor characteristics.
 
Water Treatment Plan Superintendent Jill Miller says, “The Water Treatment Plant, along with the Water & Sewer Department, take great pride in producing excellent quality water and maintaining that quality throughout the distribution system until delivery to our customers’ taps.”
 
Superintendent Miller adds, “This achievement means a lot. Being recognized as one of the best tasting waters in the country is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of personnel in both departments.”
 
The full press release from AWWA can be found at: https://www.awwa.org/AWWA-Articles/massachusetts-water-resources-authority-wins-best-of-the-best-water-taste-test

After postponing a tour stop last year in Bozeman due to the pandemic, country music star Kenny Chesney announced today that he will now play Bobcat Stadium on Saturday, July 9, 2022.

Montana State University is one of 19 stops on the performer’s Here and Now 2022 Stadium Tour, which begins April 23 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, and ends Aug. 26-27 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Accompanying acts will be announced at a later date.

“When we hit pause on our 2020 tour, I never thought we would go much past the fall, let alone into 2021,” Chesney said in the tour announcement. He added that changing COVID-19 protocols and concerns over fans not being able to attend sold-out shows prompted the decision to delay the original 2020 tour.

“After a lot of work on a lot of people’s parts, a lot of cooperation from the folks at the stadiums, the places we’re coming and the teams we share those venues with, we’re ready to announce the Here and Now 2022 Stadium Tour,” he said.

Tickets purchased for the original date of Chesney’s tour stop at Bobcat Stadium will be honored for the rescheduled 2022 concert, which starts that evening at 6 p.m.

Customers who are unable to make the new date will be able to request a refund until July 16, 2021. Customers can email bto@montana.edu or call 406-994-2287.

Chesney has released 19 studio albums since his debut album in 1994, 15 of which have been certified gold or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America. He has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and has had 30 No. 1 singles on the U.S. country charts, including “She’s Got It All,” “When the Sun Goes Down,” “The Boys of Fall” and “Get Along.”

He is one of the most popular touring acts in country music and has played nearly 200 stadium shows, which are regularly sold out. Chesney is an eight-time Entertainer of the Year award winner – four times awarded by the Country Music Association and four by the Academy of Country Music. 

“Confirming the new date for Kenny Chesney to play Bobcat Stadium in 2022 is a huge step as we emerge from the pandemic,” said Duane Morris, senior director of MSU Auxiliary Services. “An epic night like this at Bobcat Stadium with a performer of this magnitude will remind us how much we value live music and entertainment in our lives.”

“Like it does for everyone, the idea of music, live music, fills me up,” Chesney said. “Nothing is so in the moment, so completely alive. I want to start 2022 with the awesome rush that embodies everything playing for No Shoes Nation is. We’re calling the tour Here and Now 2022 because when we get together, there is only the present — and it’s so electric and good, I know I don’t want it to end. I just want to be 100% there with all of you.”

Thanks to an innovative piece of technology, researchers at Montana State University are now able to conduct scientific exploration at a whole new level — a very, very small one.

Last month, MSU powered up the second ultra-high resolution cryogenic transfer electron microscope, or cryo-TEM, in the northern Rocky Mountain region. The microscope, which was built in the Czech Republic before being partially disassembled and shipped to Bozeman, has the capability to create high-resolution and three-dimensional images on a cellular level with more clarity than any other tool.

It is the only TEM at any university in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming or the Dakotas. The only other such microscope in the region is at the National Institutes of Health’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton.

“This microscope is capable of really high-resolution imaging, down to a tenth of a nanometer, which we call an angstrom,” said Martin Lawrence, a professor in Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in MSU’s College of Letters and Science and the facility director of MSU’s Cryo-Electron Microscopy Laboratory, also called the Cryo-EM Lab. An angstrom is a unit of measurement so small it is chiefly used for wavelengths of light.

“This addition to our array of research infrastructure offers new and exciting opportunities into a variety of fields here at MSU,” said Jason Carter, vice president for research, economic development and graduate education. “It will serve as a resource for scientists both across the MSU community and in the wider world of academia.”

The microscope is so sensitive, said Lawrence, that its lenses are suspended on air cushions to avoid even the tiniest vibrations, which can distort the resulting images.

“At those kinds of resolutions, if you have even a little bit of shaking it’s going to blur the image, just like if you’re trying to hold a camera steady,” Lawrence said. “If you have changes in temperature, you’ll have very minor contractions or expansions that will shift things. Acoustic waves and even foot traffic can cause vibrations that can be a problem.”

That’s why MSU undertook a full remodel of the Cryo-EM Lab to accommodate the new microscope, which included an expansion of the space to fit the 8-foot cube-shaped chamber that houses it, which contains a shaft that reaches from floor to ceiling. The project totaled $3.8 million including the cost of the microscope, paid for with funding from the National Science Foundation, Murdock Charitable Trust and MSU’s Office of Research, Economic Development and Graduate Education.

From the time the microscope arrived in January, it took nearly eight weeks reassemble it. Along with the microscope, the Cryo-EM lab now has an entire room dedicated to the computers that take the images captured by the TEM — as many as 100,000, up to 50 per second — and stitch them into a 3-D model of something normally invisible to the naked eye.

Its uses are incredibly broad, according to Lawrence. It lets scientists see with unprecedented clarity individual proteins within cells and examine structures previously illustrated by grainy, black and white images. The TEM is particularly useful in virology, allowing researchers to get a clear enough view to identify exactly how viruses infect their hosts.

One recent project used TEM technology to explore viruses that inhabit Yellowstone National Park’s hot springs. For years, researchers had known such viruses existed and that they infected the single-celled organisms that live in thermal features. But because scientists didn’t have a clear image of what the viruses looked like, it couldn’t be said for certain exactly how they latched onto their hosts.

Thanks to the TEMs at other institutions, researchers now know the Yellowstone viruses’ cellular structures looks relatively similar to the now-recognizable SARS-CoV-2 virus, with tiny spikes that allow it to attach to its host organism. By taking thousands of images, each at a slightly different angle, and averaging them, TEM technology allows scientists to unlock new insights about some of the world’s smallest organisms.

Now, all that exploration can be done in-house at MSU, Lawrence said. Plus, when combined with the subzero technology MSU’s Cryo-EM Lab is known for, the microscope will allow materials scientists, biologists, virologists and other researchers to examine organic materials in a more natural state.

That’s because electron microscopes like TEM produce images by shooting a beam of electrons directly at a sample. This can quickly destroy organic matter like plants, making it much more difficult to see their natural makeup on a molecular level.

But the Cryo-EM Lab has a tool called a plunge freezer that uses liquid propane or ethane to freeze samples so quickly that their molecules don’t have time to reorganize into the crystal structures generally associated with freezing. Instead, their molecules trapped exactly as they were when they plunged into the freezer in a glassy form called vitreous ice.

In addition to facilitating projects across nearly a dozen departments and centers at MSU, Lawrence said the TEM will serve as a resource to scientists across the region. Researchers from other universities have already begun sending samples to put the technology to use.

“It will hugely benefit this campus and I’m glad we’ll be able to make it available to other people,” he said.

On June 13, 2021, officers of the Bozeman Police Department were asked to check the welfare of a male whom the caller had recently been unable to contact. Officers went to an address in the 100 block of N 9th Street in Bozeman to check on the welfare of the 79-year-old male. After not receiving a response, they entered the residence and ultimately found a male, later identified Steven Jay Kilwein, deceased on the floor.

The initial investigation indicated the death may have been the result of a construction accident. However, the continued investigation and an autopsy, conducted on June 15, indicated the death was the result of a criminal act.

At this time, it appears the suspect was known to the victim and that this was not a random act. It does not appear there is a general public safety concern.

Although no arrests have been made at this time, detectives are actively investigating the incident and have developed a possible suspect. Anyone with additional information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact Detective Ben King at 406-582-2035, Crimestoppers at 406-586-1131 or email crimetips@bozeman.net. Information leading to an arrest in this case may be eligible for a Crime Stopper’s reward.